Help!! Hatching chicks for the first time!

sami141

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Hi there,
I know there are many posts but this is my first time hatching and got a chick with its beak out which is moving but not cheeping and not done much yet, I'm probably just panicking but it started hatching at 8pm last night, so now 16 hours later. Other chicks are starting to crack their eggs now too! Don't know if you can see from the picture but that's the one that started last night! Any help would be very much appreciated. It's day 21 and humidity is 60-62%. Thanks
400
 
If you open the incubator and the out side air is cooler then inside the incubator you could start some or all of the egg's to shrink wrap and then you will have nothing just relax and let nature take it's course and you will wind up with more healthy chicks in the end and just hatching is the first obstetrical you have many more problems just around the bend so just let them finish for now and wait ......

Oh and welcome to BYC
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BYC has a very useful learning center
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Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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It is normal for a chick to pip, (break thru the shell to breathe), and sit there for 24+ hours. They are busy absorbing the last of the yolk and detaching from the inside of the egg. So don't panic thinking you need to bust him out. Just be patient and let him come out when he is ready.

Good luck with the hatch and keep us posted! :-)
 
Oh, and you might get your humidity up to around 65% to 70% to keep the shell softer and prevent the chicks from sticking to the inside of the eggs, Make sure your vents are wide open and do not open the lid when there is any pipping going on.
 
Thankyou twocrows. I'm struggling to know how to get the humidity up as can't access the water troughs-I've managed to get a tube in the vent hole to fill up one but can't reach the other-shall I put a bit of warm water on the shelf below the egg tray?
 
I've managed to get a cat feeding tube into the other chamber via the vent, hooray!!!
 
Doesn't seem to have made a massive difference though...if the vents are wide open it's 62%.
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with the hatch. You've gotten some good advice above. Since you don't want to open the incubator while you have so many eggs pipped to add sponges etc, you could try upping the humidity in the room where the incubator is also if you can't get the incubator any higher. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
 
Thank you Kelsie, what is the best way to raise humidity in the room? They are in my front room at the moment. I now have 4 pipped eggs and the other is moving around a lot! Is it possible to dangle string or something via the vent hole and have it in water so it kind of wicks it up?
 

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