Just wondering how soon you can move chicks from an incubator into a brooder? I had one hatch this morning and he was so full of life, dried really quickly and threw a complete tantrum when he discovered he was alone in the bator (i took the other 3 chicks out cos when he first hatched they kept annoying him and he carried on then too), so after 8 hours he was moved to the brooder where he is currently one happy little chick, hanging with the gang. Should i have left him in the bator longer? Is there a minimum time after the chick hatches that you should leave them in the bator before moving them? And I'm sure this one is a boy - the ammount of tantrum chucking he has already done - has to be a boy!
I don't think there's any set time. I think the main thing about leaving them in the bator is not to keep opening it while you still have eggs that are hatching!!
There are a couple of considerations: Don't open the incubator to remove a chick when other eggs have pipped or are zipping, because that will suck out the humidity and you might "shrink-wrap" the ones hatching. If your 'bator recovers temperature quickly, you can snatch DRY and active hatchlings out when there are still eggs which haven't pipped. I like to wait 8 to 12 hours, to make sure the little hatchlings have rested from their ordeals and are totally dry and running around inside the incubator.
