Opening the incubator during lock down

[Missy020219]

I hatched eggs for the first time about 3 months ago and ended up with about a 51% hatch rate. I started with 43 eggs and I think 30 went into lockdown and 22 hatched. I had two chicks that died inside the egg after they started to make the hole. Only their beaks were peaking out. I didn't open the eggs to see what was wrong, but I have a feeling it had something to do with me opening and closing the incubator.

Now I'm incubating again. Day 3. I have a bunch of questions.

When the chick is hatched when should I take the shell out?

How long should I keep the chick in the incubator?

Does opening the incubator affect the pipped eggs?

Is the newly hatched chick harming the chicks inside the eggs by walking around in the incubator and knocking the eggs around?

Do the chicks hatch faster when you play chicken noises beside the incubator?

When do I know if the chick needs help hatching?

 

[AquaDuck]

If opening the incubator affects the eggs, depends on the machine. Some are good at getting back to the right temp and humidity, some go haywire. It's usually not a problem if the humidity stays up, and you don't do it too often (a few times a day max)

Most of your questions will have answers that vary from person to person. Some are totally hands-off during hatching, all the way till the last chick is dry. Some (I'm one of them) are hands-on and like to open and check the eggs, and take out the chicks as they've hatched and dried a little. I hate that they're running all over the un-hatched eggs!

Will the chick hatch faster with chicken noises? They have a process they must go through that can't be rushed. However, I've observed that when one chick hatches, the others become much more active. And also that when I remove the hatched chicks, the remaining eggs go quiet. So they certainly react to noise. Try it out, it might be fun!

Knowing when a chick is in trouble is very difficult to assess. It comes with experience I guess. Read up on assisted hatching if you haven't already (check out both links in my signature if you wanna, they're about incubation and hatching)

 

[Missy020219]

Does leaving the empty shell in the incubator for too long do anything to the incubator?