I have the Brinsea Octagon 20 ECO w/ Auto Turner. This is my 3rd hatch with it. I seem to be having humidity issues during hatch. The last two latches I've had 1 egg where the membranes hardened and the yolk(?) effectively glued the chick to the inside before it could emerge. The eggs both pipped and began to zip, but they were slow. The first one was a chicken and it seems completely healthy now. This time is was a duckling. With both I could see that the membranes had hardened, the chick/duckling inside was still trying - for hours, with no progress. I finally decided to help feeling that it was more likely an issue with the incubator and/or circumstances than a sickly chick. But maybe these are weak chicks? I tend to really be in the camp of not helping unless it's something with the incubator, etc. Am I not realizing that these s-l-o-w hatchers are the chicks that should not be helped? Or is this an issue with the humidity not being high enough?
A fellow Brinsea hatcher tells me that she always closes the vent on the lid all the way during hatch. The "manual" says to leave it 1/3 open (which I've done). I keep both troughs filled leading up to hatch.
In both cases I have taken chicks out that were 1 day or more old before the hatch was complete. When I have done this I have poured some hot water into the incubator in an effort to re-establish the humidity quickly. When you hatch is it better to just leave all of the chicks in the bator till the hatch is complete? If so, how do you know it's complete? There is so much stumbling and movement and fluff - it's hard to see if there are more pips or not.
With this hatch (ducks) the first pip was Sunday evening. It's Wednesday afternoon and I've just helped the last chick out. Would that have been too long to leave them all in the incubator?
I want to get better at this and I sure do hate to see the little ones stuck (literally) in their eggs like that. Looking forward to any advice or tips. Oh, I did put a sea sponge in with the ducks, but when we snatched the first hatchers out I did so in part to remove the sponge. They seemed to be nibbling it?? Maybe I could put a sponge under the tray next time so they can't get at it.
A fellow Brinsea hatcher tells me that she always closes the vent on the lid all the way during hatch. The "manual" says to leave it 1/3 open (which I've done). I keep both troughs filled leading up to hatch.
In both cases I have taken chicks out that were 1 day or more old before the hatch was complete. When I have done this I have poured some hot water into the incubator in an effort to re-establish the humidity quickly. When you hatch is it better to just leave all of the chicks in the bator till the hatch is complete? If so, how do you know it's complete? There is so much stumbling and movement and fluff - it's hard to see if there are more pips or not.
With this hatch (ducks) the first pip was Sunday evening. It's Wednesday afternoon and I've just helped the last chick out. Would that have been too long to leave them all in the incubator?
I want to get better at this and I sure do hate to see the little ones stuck (literally) in their eggs like that. Looking forward to any advice or tips. Oh, I did put a sea sponge in with the ducks, but when we snatched the first hatchers out I did so in part to remove the sponge. They seemed to be nibbling it?? Maybe I could put a sponge under the tray next time so they can't get at it.
