Help....

[Rescuedrvr4u]

Ok everybody, the newbie here. I need please a FULL EXPLANATION, exactly, what is pipping, and what is zipping? Have babies due the 18th, 19th, and 20th and want to know EXACTLY what to watch for. I THINK I know what lockdown is, so when do I want to raise my humidity (I think the 16th?)and, shouldn't it be raised to about 70%?. Thanks so much for your help!!!

 

[Melissa Rose]

There are two kinds of piping. The first is an internal pip when the chicklet breaks through the membrane into the air cell. The second is external piping when the chicklet breaks a small whole through the egg shell. zipping is when the chicklet breaks a seam all around the middle of the egg shell and breaks it in half to come out

Gooooo little chicklets goooooo

 

[Melissa Rose]

Here is a pic of an external pip These are my lemon cuckoo orps that are hatching this morning

 

[Melissa Rose]

Humidity is hard. I have problems with my natural air humidity being way to high so I don't increase my humidity as most would do so I will let others answer that for you.

Once the chicklet pips externally it can take up to 24 hours for the zipping to start. They rest for a long time so don't get discourage when you see it pip and then do nothing for a while

 

[Ridgerunner]

Internal pipping is when the chick breaks through to the air sac and starts learing to breathe air instead of living in a liquid world. Sometimes but not always, you will hear peeping or see the eggs moving. Sometimes, but not always.

External pipping is when the chick pecks a hole in the shell of the egg. Usually, you can see the tip of the beak and movement.

Zipping is when the chick opens the egg shell. It literally pecks a circle all the way around the egg so it can push it apart and come out.

There is a lot going on during this process. The chick is absorbing the yolk. It is drying up blood vessels it no longer needs and absorbing that blood. It does something to the fluid that has been surrounding it so that when it hatches it dries fluffy instead of the down being glued down. And it is doing several other things, maybe even resting occasionally.

Some chicks do a lot of this before external pip. These can get ot the zip stage pretty rapidly. Sonme do a lot between external pip and zip. Sometimes it can take a real long time between pip and zip. These are the ones that worry us. Occasionally you get one that zips before it has totally done everything it should. Sometimes these have problems but often these are fine.

With a staggered hatch like that, you might run into problems. Chicks can last three days without food or water since they absorb the yolk. But at some point they need food and water. You'll have to open the incubator to get them out. When you do, you take the risk of shring wrapping any chick that has pipped. Notice I said you take the risk. You are not guaranteed to shrink wrap every chick that has pipped when you open it, but it can happen. I've done it. You have to do what you have to do, but I suggest opening it as seldom and for as short a time as you can.

That leads to another problem with a staggered hatch. You are supposed to go into lockdown mode 72 hours before the expected hatch date. That means you stop turning them, raise the humidity, and don't open the incubator. With a staggered hatch, you can't do that.

To me, the key with the humidity is that you need to get it raised before chicks start pipping. Otherwise you take that chance of shrink-wrapping them. Sometimes chicks will start pipping and hatch two or three days early. Sometimes they are that much late. There are things going on with the turning too that are important, but what I suggest is that you do not stop turning them until you see your first pip or you get to the 16th. Then stop turning them. I would raise the humidity on the 15th, which is 3 full days, 72 hours, before hatch. 70% is a good target.

What I would suggest is next time, don't do a staggered hatch. Life is a lot less stressful.

I will point out that the day of the week you set them is the day of the week they should hatch. For example, if you set them on Sunday the 1st, they should hatch on Sunday the 22nd. An egg does not have 24 hours worth of development 2 seconds after it is put in the incubator. It takes 24 hours for an egg to get a day's worth of development. A lot of people get that wrong.

 

[Rescuedrvr4u]

SO, SO, SO HELPFUL.....THANK YOU!!!! After the babies come out, do I leave them in the incubator for warmth, and to dry out? and how long? the whole 3 days until they need food? When is the bast time to take them out? Thanks ya'll!!!! Kelly.

 

[nstilwater]

you should leave them in the incubator untill they are all fluffy, since you have the staggered hatch some will need to come out to eat before the last to hatch are dry i would wait till they all hatch, unless some hatch early, then take out the ones that hatched first and are fluffy while the last to hatch are drying.

that sound confusing now that i read it .....lol......basically i would wait till they all hatch to prevent shrinkwraping, unless the first to hatch are aproaching that 3day old mark.......they need to eat........but once they all hatch it is ok to open and take the first ones out just do it fast to keep the ones that are still wet warm.