Congrats on the five new fluffy butts!Thank you everyone for the warm welcome! Update on my hatching process…I have an inexpensive incubator, so I stayed up all night regulating the temp and humidity. 5 of the 8 hatched with flying colors! I am really pleased with the success rate!! I got 3 Black Cooper Marens, 1 55 Flowery and 1 White Brahma. The ones that did not hatch were 3 BC Marens. Two of them started pipping, but did not make it through the process, and the last one never pipped at all. I wanted to help the ones that started to pip, but I had others pipping at the same time, and I didn’t want to go in with the possibility of messing up the humidity and temp. The two that started pipping had movement for a little while, then just stopped. They haven’t moved for about ten hours. It looks they weren’t able to get through the membrane. My little troupers are now tucked warmly in their brooder, and seem to be really thriving! They play for about 5-10 minutes, then sleep for 30 minutes. They are getting use to their watered slowly but surely. That was an amazing experience!!! Thank you for all the good advice!!
Do you have those two that only pipped still in the incubator?
What you chose to do is what I'd have done too. I won't risk the ones hatching. If it's those two versus one, I may have wet a paper towel so it's just damp, opened the incubator and quickly put the paper towel over the actively pipped one, then snatch them other two out, had they done nothing in 24 hours since pipping.
Here's an excellent article on how to assist them out of their eggs. You should only do this if it's been about 24 hours since they first pipped, and no action since then, like yours.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
