Oh, HELP! HELP! What do I do now?

[Sylviaanne]

I picked eggs from a nest I thought was abandoned and put them in the incubator 2 weeks ago, now I HAVE BABIES HATCHING! I can see 3 of them have cracks and missing pieces of shell, 2 of them are chirping at me. I nearly dropped the first one when it chirped at me. I thought I had chipped the shell myself.

Will it hurt them that I have kept turning the eggs and fortunately the humidity in the incubator has been up around 50% but should I raise it more incase other hatchlings need it? If the shells don't break all the way from the babies, what should I do?

Thanks, Sylvia

 

[Sylviaanne]

I left out the most important part of my problem, I have like 30 eggs in the incubator. Not all of them came from that nest, some of them will take the full hatching time. How do I handle this? Sylvia

 

[bobbi-j]

As they hatch, the humidity in the incubator will increase. I would just let them be. I'm not a fan of assisting them if they can't hatch, but there are threads here telling you how to do it if you feel the need. Only do it as a last resort, though. If you try to "help" too soon, you'll do more harm than good.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Ok, but are the eggs that are still incubating in any danger?

I have one little black chick and 12 more babies on the way. At least 12. Sylvia

 

[Sylviaanne]

I now have 5 little black chicks, one with brown and yellow stripes on it's head and it looks like another 14 to break out. Sylvia

 

[saltandpepper2]

I now have 5 little black chicks, one with brown and yellow stripes on it's head and it looks like another 14 to break out. Sylvia

What I would do is every 12 hours, grab the chicks that are dried out and moving to the brooder, this way the chicks won't bump the other eggs around.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Thank you. I was afraid I still wasn't clear on what I needed to do next. Sylvia

 

[saltandpepper2]

No problem

 

[Sylviaanne]

Well, I now have 10 little babies but each time I check I have to move more eggs to the hatching side of the incubator. Looks like I will end up with at least 22 babies. All of them are black but one brown and one silver. Sylvia

 

[saltandpepper2]

Well, I now have 10 little babies but each time I check I have to move more eggs to the hatching side of the incubator. Looks like I will end up with at least 22 babies. All of them are black but one brown and one silver. Sylvia

Have you moved the first batch of chicks to the brooder?