Late hatch?

[Newby777]

Hi all! I received 21 eggs from my sister and her neighbor! Yesterday was day 21 (late at night). Early Saturday 5am one was hatched. Then we went until yesterday evening and 5 more have hatched. I had thrown the infertile eggs out so that left me with the 6 that have hatched, and the 6 that are still in the egg. One has pipped. I pulled the one that was 24 hours old and out her under a heater next the the incubator with food and water. I got worried she was being too crazy and would hurt the others knocking them all around. She is doing great. I just pulled the one that hatched 2nd and 3rd and put them in the brooder with the first.
I am wanting to just run by what I am doing and see if any of you have any input, I am open for it. How long should I wait on the other eggs to hatch before taking the rest of the chicks out of the incubator to eat and drink?

 

[JaeG]

If no eggs are pipped externally you can get the chicks out no problem. How humid is the room the incubator is in? I live in a humid climate so don't worry too much about opening my incubator, but you can run the shower on hot to make the bathroom steamy then take your incubator in there before opening it if you do have eggs that have externally pipped and you need to get the chicks out.

 

[Newby777]

Ok, I did get them out quick and just made sure the humidity stayed up. There was one that had pipped.... will it hurt her that I took them out in the bedroom of normal dry humidity in the room?

 

[JaeG]

Ok, I did get them out quick and just made sure the humidity stayed up. There was one that had pipped.... will it hurt her that I took them out in the bedroom of normal dry humidity in the room?

It shouldn't do. I've had one externally pip unexpectedly - I'd candled the night before and it hadn't even internally pipped then so I wasn't expecting it to have pipped externally the next morning. My humidity was 25% and it hatched out all by itself just fine. I did bump the humidity up once I discovered it.

 

[Newby777]

Ok great, thanks. I’ll just watch her. How long would you wait to see if the others will hatch? The incubator is a mess inside with egg shells and poop!

 

[JaeG]

Ok great, thanks. I’ll just watch her. How long would you wait to see if the others will hatch? The incubator is a mess inside with egg shells and poop!

Yep, it gets messy in there.

Once your externally pipped one has hatched, if none of the others show signs of pipping I would candle them to see what's happening. You'll see if they have pipped internally, or are close to that stage (the chick will create a bit of a shadow where it meets the air cell). If the eggs still look full and dark under the air cell that's a good sign. If the chick has died it will look very black and there will be a watery, yellow layer between it and the air cell with no veins showing.

Try to keep the eggs orientated the same way they are sitting in the incubator (despite the other chicks having kicked them about).

 

[Newby777]

Yep, it gets messy in there.

Once your externally pipped one has hatched, if none of the others show signs of pipping I would candle them to see what's happening. You'll see if they have pipped internally, or are close to that stage (the chick will create a bit of a shadow where it meets the air cell). If the eggs still look full and dark under the air cell that's a good sign. If the chick has died it will look very black and there will be a watery, yellow layer between it and the air cell with no veins showing.

Try to keep the eggs orientated the same way they are sitting in the incubator (despite the other chicks having kicked them about).

What is the latest you’d wait to see if they will hatch? Late last night was 21 days. All but 3 are either hatched or didn’t form or were blanks. So I am waiting on the 3. They are from bigger hens so the eggs are bigger then the smaller ones that hatched right on the 21 days.

 

[JaeG]

I'm too impatient to wait. I candle any remaining eggs once the bulk of the hatch is finished to assess whether there's still hope. You could leave them a couple more days but do candle before throwing them out as some people have tossed eggs in the bin only to hear them peeping later.