Is it ok to open the incubator after day 18?

[Chicken Woman26]

I have eggs in the incubator and is quite late to ask, but is it ok to open the incubator after day 18? I have been opening the incubator constantly to see if my eggs are hatching but today i heared that you are not soposed to do this. Will my eggs be ok?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You really need a window on that incubator so you can see what is going in inside. It’s really hard not knowing. I would not be able to hatch that way.

Your question does not have a yes or no answer. You might possibly hurt the hatch or you might be OK.

The danger when you open the incubator after an egg has pipped is that the humidity might drop enough to shrink-wrap the chick. That’s where the membrane inside the egg shell dries out and shrinks around the chick, preventing it from hatching. This will not happen if the egg has not pipped. It just won’t dry out fast enough unless there is a hole there.

A big part of where the 18 days come in to raise the humidity and quit opening the incubator is that you don’t know when an egg will pip. Even if you can see inside the incubator the pip might be on the bottom where you cannot see it. 18 days gives you a pretty good margin of safety.

Not every egg that has pipped will shrink-wrap if you open the incubator. If I have a problem in my incubator where I need to open it in that time period, I go ahead and open it if the need is big enough. I know there is a risk but sometimes that risk is worth taking. I have shrink-wrapped a chick opening the incubator, but I have had a whole lot that were not shrink-wrapped although they had already pipped.

 

[Chicken Woman26]

OK my ckicks should have piped by now but they havent. I have a diffrent fourm up about that. I think i did something wrong and they wont hatch at all because of this. It might be opening and closing but it might not. I actually have windows but they aarent that big

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

The chicks don't know they should have pipped by now

Its really not that uncommon for them to hatch a little early or DAYS late. What temp have you been running your bator at? If its a little low, they'll be delayed. Is it still air or circulated?

If I were you, I'd quickly pull an egg and candle it to see where the embryos are developement wise (and if they're still alive). If they are, put it back and no matter how much you want to, leave the lid closed. Its pretty easy to tell when a chick has hatched (or even pipped), you'll hear them. If you have a recording of a hen making noise, you could play it near the bator. I played the hen alarm on my phone for my last batch of bator chicks, and the eggs would peep and move when I turned it on.

Don't loose hope, I've had eggs hatch out on day 26 and 27 because of low temps. crossed for you!