Leaving Hatched Chick In Incubator - Bad?

ChickenGirl555

Crowing
5 Years
Oct 22, 2017
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Wisconsin
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I have read many articles and pieces of advice where they recommend leaving chicks in the incubator until they are dry. I have incubated twice before, with both times removing the hatched chick(s) as soon as it started getting energetic and moving the other eggs that were trying to hatch. But those times I had 4-6 eggs in lockdown waiting to hatch, whereas I was unlucky with many being infertile this time and I have only 2 that are viable and still growing (I also ordered from a hatchery for around the same time, so they will not be alone for long if only one hatches). Now I'm wondering if it would be best to simply leave both chicks in there until they are both hatched and dry--as everybody recommends. I have a small 6-egg incubator so it's easy for a spunky 'new-hatched' to mess with the other eggs. Will leaving this chick in the incubator compromise the other egg? I don't want it to be my fault that the chick ends up scrambling the other embryo or turning the pip hole to the floor, making hatch difficult. They're due May 13th.
 
I've done things both ways. I haven't had any issues resulting from the chick kicking the other eggs around. I would consider it fairly risk-free. "Scrambling" is extremely unlikely at this stage of incubation. I do tend to reach in to turn up flipped pips, however. That is due more to an abundance of caution on my part as I have still had them hatch successfully even when flipped. Basically, it's your call. With a smaller incubator, I may lean more towards recommending to keep it closed if you have difficulty with humidity due to losing all the air in one fell swoop,
 
I've done things both ways. I haven't had any issues resulting from the chick kicking the other eggs around. I would consider it fairly risk-free. "Scrambling" is extremely unlikely at this stage of incubation. I do tend to reach in to turn up flipped pips, however. That is due more to an abundance of caution on my part as I have still had them hatch successfully even when flipped. Basically, it's your call. With a smaller incubator, I may lean more towards recommending to keep it closed if you have difficulty with humidity due to losing all the air in one fell swoop,
Ok, I’ll stick to leaving it closed. Thank you for the advice!
 

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