My 1st chicks (added pics) & question about removing from incubator

[BobcatKen]

First timer here. Hatched gecko eggs but never chick eggs. I've been incubating 11 eggs and finally saw some pipping last night. By the time I went to bed, one had finally bust out of the shell. Couldn't resist taking a few pics.

This morning, another chick cracked out. All day at work I've been daydreaming about the chicks. When I returned home this afternoon, I discovered six more chicks had come out. Total of 8 so far with 2 other eggs pipped.

Question: When can I take the chicks out of the Hovabator and move them into my brooder? I've read I'm supposed to wait until they are dry, but all the chicks seem fairly wet. The driest one probably hatched last night but it seems somewhat wet. The humidity reads 80%. I've removed the water sources btw. thanks in advance.

Pics from last night of the 1st eggshell escapee:

 

[pbjmaker]

congrats on your first hatch! My hovabator instructions said to remove the plugs towards the end of the hatch if they weren't drying off. Or I read it somewhere on a chicken site...
But I'll bet there are experts with more knowledge than me who can give you a better answer.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I would definitely take the vent plugs out and let the humidity come down a bit. You can see on the paper towel how much water there was in that egg. Normally there isn't any...only the yolk sack.

It's somewhat controversial but I take my chicks out as soon as they have mostly dried...not fluffed up...and put them in the brooder. I do it quickly and I've never had any problems with the rest of the eggs pipping, zipping and hatching. My opinion is that it's not as precise a process as we may believe. I mean, this happens in nature all the time, at that is certainly anything but precise!!

 

[kellim]

I agree with oldtimegator. I usually take mine out before they are completely dry and put them in the brooder, though they are usually in the process of drying when I take them out, just not fluffy. I actually never put my vent plugs in my bator, I like their to be extra fresh air coming in.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I removed mine after about 8 hours because most started panting. I also removed the plug and all was fine.

 

[BobcatKen]

Thanks for the feedback and advice. Raising chicks isn't rocket science, but after reading various books and websites it seems like there are so many things that can go wrong in the incubating and hatching process. Anyways I did remove the incubator's vent plugs before dinner. A few hours later, I could see the humidity was dropping and the chick feathers were starting to dry. I removed 3 of the driest chicks from the incubator, took a few pics, and put them into the brooder.

One chick got tired of photos and mooned me.

 

[SterlingAcres]

Congrats on the good hatch and great pictures. The chicks are adorable

 

[goatkeepers]

Congratulations!!

They are so cute! What are they??

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

How is it going this morning? Any other hatches??

 

[BobcatKen]

One more chick did hatch out last night. I still have one small beak poking out of the shell. This was the first beak I saw poking out about 32 hours ago. Hopefully it will crack out by tonight.

The last egg is my Easter egg and I haven't see any evidence it will hatch. We'll see. So 9 chicks outs so far from 11 eggs.

The eggs were collected from my summer camp job from a mixed flock of chickens . The flock has a bunch of breeds including Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Australorps, Ameraucanas, Barred Rocks, Silver Laced Wyandottes...