Please Advise!! When to take chicks out of the bator?

[tigerkitten45]

Hi, this is officially hatch day for me, however i had 3 chicks make it out yesterday, 1 today and have 2 more that have pipped. I am being urged by DH and DD to remove the chicks, but don't think this would be wise, am worried about losing too much humidity and shrink wrapping those that still need to hatch out. Besides the 2 that have pipped there are 3 other eggs. What should i do??

 

[NoseyChickens]

Wait! Do not open the bator! The ones that have hatched can live up to 48 hours (I believe) on just the yolk they absorbed, that's why you can ship day olds without food.

 

[SarahFair]

You can wait awhile. Friday I had about 6 hatch and I didnt take any out till about late sunday. There was about 15ish in there at that time and I only took them out cause they wouldnt stop kicking the eggs around

 

[eggsited chickens]

It took 3.5 days for all my chicks to hatch. I took them out after about 4-6 hours to make room for the others to hatch. I didn't have any problem with loosing humidity. I'd do it again too, b/c there is no way I'm going to keep 30 chicks in the incubator! I made sure I was quick, and if it went lower than 70% humidity I'd wait until it went up to take out more. It worked out fine.

 

[FenDruadin]

I take mine out every 6 hours approximately. I have found that an incubator full of hatched ducklings can wreak havoc on the unhatched. It is worth the small risk associated with the humidity to get them out of there. Before I open it up, I raise the humidity as high as it will go, then quickly do the job and close it again. I make sure the humidity is still nice and high, and then I tend to the babies. Not for everyone, but that's what I do.

 

[katharinad]

It is ok to open the incubator for a second to remove some chicks. Especially if you are using a fan circulated incubator, because the fan will get everything right back to normal in a minute or so. Plus the humidity goes up with each egg that hatches. The short opening will not reduce it to the point that everyone gets shrink wrapped. Chicks should stay in the incubator for at least 4 hours before you take them out. I also take them out every 6 hours.
Katharina