It’s lockdown day! Help a newb?

[Stepfordhomestead]

hi guys!

So it’s been 18 days, my 13 eggs have whittled down to 8 and it’s officially lockdown day.

I’m using a still air incubator with no turner. I’ve hand turned 3x a day and have my temp set at 102°- meaning it’s about 100° at the bottom (i checked it) with humidity around 45-47%.


Can you double check that I’m right with my steps....

I’m going to recandle the eggs and check for signs of life.

Fill the water channels and get the humidity to 60%

Remove the extra vent cap for more air flow.

Lay the eggs on paper towels

Don’t open the incubator except to remove chicks once they’ve dried

This is my first hatch...

Once they are hatched and dried can they go right into my brooder?

I have it set up with the heat lamp and sawdust/chips. Can they eat immediately? The same stuff we feed our purchased chicks? We kind of bumbled through our brooder phase with the chicks we purchased last year, so I want to make sure we do it right this time.

 

[Squishychicken]

Chicks have enough yolk reserve from the egg after hatching that they dont need fed till a day or two after the hatch you could feed them right away but it's up to you. Yes normal chick feed is fine. Just make sure you dont take them out till there dry and be very fast about it

 

[Stepfordhomestead]

My hope is that I can leave everyone in there til they are all hatched and then remove all at once. I don’t want to jeopardize anybody still trying to hatch by opening the lid to remove chicks.

 

[Squishychicken]

That works as well. Sometimes the chisk will run around knocking eggs over if that's the case then I'll take them out otherwise I leave in too