PLEASE HELP EARLY HATCH!

[Tankueray]

Thank you so much for your detailed reply! So I set off thinking these were muscovys and I did my research and found dry hatching was best, so the humidity has only been around 48% sometimes even lower. And I was due to put them into lockdown and raise the temp on day 33/34. To my surprise I went to turn the eggs and one had pipped. So I panicked, quickly removed the turning plate, added the anti slip matt and added a tiny bit of water. In a panic not remembering the humidity would need to be risen so much more as it was around 44% at the time, so I then opened it again to fill the middle part. And it didn’t raise past 48% in 30 minutes so I added some wet sponges and it went upto 78%, since then it’s gone down to 75%. Chick is still bleeping and it’s just pipped another hole next to the current. Praying I don’t kill off the chick by drying it out with all the opening.

That looks like the beginning of zipping. That's good, your chick is doing it's thing despite your best efforts to freak out. The most important thing while they're pipping and zipping is not to open the incubator - that membrane can dry quickly and lock them in the egg. It's less likely to dry and get stuck even with dropping humidity if the incubator isn't opened. Let it be for at least 12 hours. The chick can breathe and it's trying to zip. If it gets stuck, it'll let you know. If it's quiet, it's probably sleeping and absorbing the yolk sac.

Always remember the first time you had to get out of a straight jacket...it took a lot of effort and time, especially with the warden watching over you. <j/k>

48% should have been okay. 75% seems low but remember how small that incubator is - think about being in a sauna vs. in Orlando in the summer, same temp, same humidity, but harder to breath in the sauna. Don't let it go below that, but if 75% is as high as you can get it with the sponges and full tanks, then that just may be how that incubator works. I can't think of much that could boost it higher without doing more harm than good. It's sitting somewhere out of drafts, your AC isn't set too low, and it's not in direct sunlight, right? You might try to make a cardboard fence/wall around the incubator, surrounding it at least 3-4" away, no roof, but tall enough that it blocks drafts and allows for circulation while keeping the humidity from being immediately whisked off by the outer environment. (Take a box, about 2-3x the width and height of the incubator, fold in the top and bottom flaps and then sit it on the table surrounding the incubator.)

 

[Hatcher1997]

Oh that’s great to know thank you! I’m most definitely freaking out! His chirps are sometimes really loud like he’s in pain, I hope I’m doing this right! The humidity has dropped to 70% now. No breeze or direct sunlight and I’ve got the edges covered with a towel but I will try to find a box! How come 48% humidity is okay but 75% isn’t? also must admit I laughed at your joke

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I have a Brinsea and like you, I use the well on the outside to add water and then use a sponge in a small shallow tray to keep my humidity where I need it. I don't think I've ever used the well inside the incubator. I really like that I can easily adjust the humidity with a sponge. I use a bulb syringe to add very warm water to the sponge so I don't have to remove the lid completely. Using warm/hot water will help get the temperature back up quickly too. Looking forward to seeing pictures once they hatch

 

[Hatcher1997]

I have a Brinsea and like you, I use the well on the outside to add water and then use a sponge in a small shallow tray to keep my humidity where I need it. I don't think I've ever used the well inside the incubator. I really like that I can easily adjust the humidity with a sponge. I use a bulb syringe to add very warm water to the sponge so I don't have to remove the lid completely. Using warm/hot water will help get the temperature back up quickly too. Looking forward to seeing pictures once they hatch

i wish I could fill up from the outside but since day 1 the well on the outside has been full and doesn’t go down, it doesn’t fill it up inside so I think the piping is broken maybe I’ve added sponges but the humidity quickly went down after adding them, i don’t want to take the lid off again but I’m a little worried it’ll dry out. I love hearing it’s little chirps though, I’m pasing up and down like an expecting mother

 

[Hatcher1997]

@HeatherKellyB @Tankueray I chose to intervene as it was completely drying out, I hope I did okay? it had all dried right out and was sticking to his feathers, my first time and I didn’t really know what I was doing but natural instincts was to use a damp paper towel and try help him out as much as I could. My only worries now is how cold it must’ve got and if he’s going to survive from hours of trying to get out. Thank you, how cute is he though

 

[Tankueray]

Oh that’s great to know thank you! I’m most definitely freaking out! His chirps are sometimes really loud like he’s in pain, I hope I’m doing this right! The humidity has dropped to 70% now. No breeze or direct sunlight and I’ve got the edges covered with a towel but I will try to find a box! How come 48% humidity is okay but 75% isn’t? also must admit I laughed at your joke

Because during incubation, the humidity needs to be lower for the egg to lose the appropriate amount of fluid so the chick can grow, and there will be little fluid left by the time it internally pips so it won't drown in the shell. (If they've pipped externally, little to no chance they're going to drown unless giant hairless monkeys reach in and start messing with them.) Mom gets up, shifts around, etc. all the time. She has to keep them warm, but humidity matters less because the eggshell and membrane protect the developing embryo. Once the shell is breached, the humidity must be similar to what it is inside the shell in order for all the work to get done by the chick. A hen will stay sitting on them as they hatch to ensure that. That's also why they can go for 72 hours before she takes them out to teach them how to maneuver the world, she can't be getting up from pipped eggs and risk letting those in the process of hatching dry out.

I'm going to have to channel my grandma now.... There is a reason I told you to put your hands in your pockets and leave it alone for 12 hours. How much did you help? IF they're stuck, which takes more than a few hours to fully determine, then action may be warranted. That chick was not stuck or shrink wrapped, you wouldn't have been able to get it all off with a paper towel without harming it if it was.

Once they can move their head and wings freely (basically once they're clear of the membrane that forms the air cell), stop. They need to get out of the shell on their own as much as possible to prevent things like curled toes, deformed beaks, muscle deformities, and spinal/sternum issues later. The muscles in the neck that they use for all of the force is slowly (reabsorbed for lack of a better analogy) as the chick is resting and straightening out during the hatch, not allowing that to happen can make them kind of hump backed looking and in pain while it does (think leg cramp), or they could have a permanent asymmetry issue.

You may have dodged a bullet because it is a chicken, and 21-22 days is spot-on for hatch - the point being it's not early. I'm not meaning to be harsh, but if this were an early chick that hadn't fully absorbed the yolk sac by the time you started helping, it likely would have died. There's a thread here on BYC about "should I help, when to help, how to help" that I secretly suspect is so long just to distract the reader a little longer in order to give the babies more time to do their own thing.

Leave it alone now, it's going to sleep a lot for the next 24 hours, it's fine, don't open the incubator. And whenever you're done with the other egg, find out what's wrong with that humidity tube and fix it.

 

[Tankueray]

It's like listening to the bag of microwave popcorn to determine whether it's done instead of burning it with the popcorn button.

His chirps are sometimes really loud like he’s in pain,

Their chirps are loud while they're hatching because they're supposed to have a big, fat hen sitting on top of them and she needs to be able to hear them loud enough to gauge how many of them are still hatching so she doesn't get up and dry them out (they need to stretch those lungs too). The other members of the flock can also hear them loud enough to know to be on guard to protect the nest while they're hatching.

Not loud chirps indicate that they're pipped internally but not externally so she can take one last pee break before everything starts to go down.

Once they're done, they're quiet again while they sleep and recover, and when they're ready, they start wiggling out from under her. The rest of the flock can relax because everything is quiet again, and they know they have a short break before having to go into full-time surveillance mode.

When the majority of them are ready to go out and learn, she abandons the rest of the eggs regardless of where they are in the process. Chicks that weren't strong enough or eggs that didn't develop and hatch within the timeframe of the rest die. That's how natural selection works.

my first time and I didn’t really know what I was doing but natural instincts

Your natural instincts are as a mammal. Mammals are born helpless and require their mother's care (and milk) to survive. Chickens are born totally self sufficient and able to see, eat, drink, walk, and learn and remember things within hours. Very few creatures share this trait.