PANIC! please help! PLEASE i am about to cry!

[Akane]

Why did you dry a zipping egg? You want zipping eggs damp. I can understand drying not pipped eggs that got water spilled on them or possibly pipped eggs that got really wet but why a zipping egg? At that point the chick can't drown unless water directly gets on it's beak. Wetting the outside of the egg and the internal membrane is a good thing at that point. Once they can breathe outside air water is good because it keeps the membrane wet so they can hatch. Dry membranes kill chicks. Lack of moisture will kill your chicks just as fast if not faster while hatching than getting wet. It's only when they are still in the egg (no pip hole to breathe from) that they can drown from excess moisture in the egg.

 

[<3<3 I <3 Chickens <3<3]

you can NEVER put water on a shell!!!! It damiges it and gets the chick vonerable to disieses!!

 

[Cherlyn]

<3<3 I <3 Chickens <3<3 :

you can NEVER put water on a shell!!!! It damiges it and gets the chick vonerable to disieses!!

Think you might be a big off on this one.

~Cherlyn​

 

[CityChicker]

<3<3 I <3 Chickens <3<3 :

you can NEVER put water on a shell!!!! It damiges it and gets the chick vonerable to disieses!!

Please tell me you are joking....​

 

[IrishBoy]

ok guys , some of you lot ave been real blunt and honestly MEAN!.. ANYWAY ... thanks for all the help some have given but not the attacks others have ..

UPDATE - two of the eggs are zipping along nicely ... one chick died , and YES it's beack was in the water that is why i dried it ...

i'm not stupid and to be honest .. calm down .. you can take the lid of ... fact! .. like seriously ... it's ok!

 

[Riven]

I have a cabinet style incubator, I open it at least once a day, even during hatch. I have fine hatch rates, and have had chicks hatching like crazy lately, my tubs and tanks are full of both ducks and chicks.

I never lock down, nor do others I know who hand turn eggs who hatch out quail, pheasants, chicks and ducks.

Sorry but opening the incubator does not mean instant death.

 

[Zookeeper9000]

I would of dried the eggs off as well if that much water was on them.

Glad to hear that your hatch went good. Sorry you lost one.

 

[Cherlyn]

I do not think anyone was trying to be mean. However, one of the basic rules to follow is to leave the incubator alone during lock down, because your odds for a successful hatch are best when the chicks are undisturbed. Yep, many folks open the 'bator once or twice while the hatch is going on - I myself have done this before - but not without LOTS of education and confidence that opening the 'bator was absolutely necessary for the survival of the chick(s). We MUST be well-educated before we try to play God with these little creatures!

Having water on the shell is a must while incubating. Moisture levels must remain high, and water on the shell is a surefire way to keep those levels up. You are absolutely right about keeping water away from the chick's beak - we do not want them to accidentally drown. But as for the little rivers of moisture flowing down the side of the egg - those are necessary.

Hope this helps. You should never feel afraid to ask anyone here anything, and I am sorry if you were offended. Just please, while you are learning, ask someone more experienced before you open the 'bator. Some folks here have made it through literally hundreds/thousands of hatches, and can instruct you point-by-point in their sleep.

~Cherlyn

ETA that if you do indeed open the 'bator, spraying the eggs with some warm water will help keep the humidity levels high.