How to take early chicks out of incubator vs Humidity & still pipping chicks

[Fryslan Boppe]

Hey everyone, I am very curious about your experience, and tricks in how, and when to take out early chickens just hatched in the incubator, versus the chicks who are still trying to get out of the egg?

For many many years we have been incubating and raising chicks, but the most stressful time has arrived. 64 eggs are due, many of them are pipping, but there are already 30 or so hatched and out of the egg. Every time again, I wonder when should I take the baby chicks out of the incubator. We always leave them in the incubator for at least 24 hours, but then my stress level goes up. I always wonder how much longer can I leave them in the incubator, and not disturbing the humidity level for the chicks still in the egg, or have him stuck to the inside of the egg because of the sudden moisture drop.

It must be hilarious to see myself under a plastic trash bag, with the incubator lid hardly open, and my hands trying to find some baby chicks dancing around, in the hope that I do not lower the humidity too much. I always have good hopes that there are still some chicks will hatch and come out of the egg.

After 48 hours of the first chicken hatching, I again take out the leftover chicks that hatched after I took them out. And try to liberate the chicks stuck in the egg but has popped. I hate this time.

I really like to know you guys ideas, experiences, and tricks and how to avoid the drop in humidity, and avoiding late hatching chickens to be concealed to the inner layer of the egg.

Please let me know I am very curious to know and to learn.

Kind regards

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I wait until they're dry, not fluffy, and that at least 2 have hatched so that they aren't alone in the brooder, and just move them out as fast as I can onto a cloth and once they're all out, shut it quickly before moving the lot to the brooder

 

[SSHilltopHens]

If there is any kind of pipping still going on, I wait as long as I can before opening the incubator to remove the hatched babies. I have left chicks in there for probably close to 60 hours without any problems, as they can survive on the yolk for up to 72 hours. Under ideal circumstances, I like to take them out as soon as they've started to fluff up, but if there are still other babies hatching I've found that they do just fine in the incubator for a little longer.

I really like to know you guys ideas, experiences, and tricks and how to avoid the drop in humidity, and avoiding late hatching chickens to be concealed to the inner layer of the egg.

I've never tried this method myself, so take this with a grain of salt, but I recently read an account from a woman who claims that she was able to prevent any significant drop in humidity by essentially creating a steam room in her bathroom. She advised to turn on the hot water in the sink and shower, close the door and let them run for about 5 minutes before bringing the incubator in the bathroom and opening it up.

Sounds a little cumbersome to me, but I suppose going to such lengths might add an extra level of reassurance if you're worried about shrink wrapping. Personally, I'd recommend just giving a few spritzes from a warm spray bottle or placing a wet sponge/papertowel inside of the incubator before closing it to help counteract the drop in humidity and quickly bring the levels back up.

 

[nuthatched]

It's fine to open the lid and take out chicks, as long as you don't leave it open for awhile. Hens are neither airtight nor in permanent place.

 

[K0k0shka]

If you have a good hygrometer in there, you can easily see if you opening the incubator has a notable effect on the humidity. As the chicks start hatching, the humidity rises significantly in there so you have quite a bit of buffer to open the incubator and lose some humidity without it dropping too low. I would not leave chicks in the incubator longer than 24 hours. Incubation temperature is too high for chicks that have already hatched, so if they stay in there too long, they can get dehydrated and develop pasty butt (I've had this happen on a chick I kept in there for 2 days, because he had a small hernia and the others in the brooder were pecking him).