Please help with hatching. I opened the bator like a big dummy

[astylishgirl]

I am messing this hatch up too. There were so many that pipped upside down for some reason. So I turned them over. But that means that I have opened the bator. Now that I have already opened the bator... is there anything I can do to fix the humidity??? Is it supposed to be high or low???

Do I help them out??? They are not doing much more than pipping and its been 24 hours.

I am panicking and TOTALLY freaking out.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

It should be high during hatch.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Opening the bator once is fine. People over exagerate that rule to scare curious hatching noobs... for their own good though.

I open my bator during hatch all the time. They DO dry out to some extent, but opeing them once isn't going to kill them. During hatch I set up a humidifier in the hatching room, that way the atmosphere can't "steal" water from the chicks. It really helps. Depending on where you live, your humidity during hatch should range anywhere from 50-80%. I live in a fairly dry area and I run it at about 75%... that seems to work well for me. Try not to open the bator, but opening it once or twice is okay.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Oh, also, hatch can take up to 48 hours. I have a chick that took 4 days. After 24 hours I help a little bit, and I pick at them throughout the day.

 

[astylishgirl]

I guess what freaks me out is that I had one pip and then just die in its shell. Now I am scared to let them go on their own. What makes them pip and then die??? It wasn't even that long!

 

[onthespot]

I live where the relative humidity is low. I don't keep a humidifier in the room. I use hovabator 1602n bators and when I open it to do stuff during a hatch, I just mist the entire clutch with a fine spray of water and close the bator again. Sometimes the chicks dry out and stick when they zip. If I walk in and check and one is zipped and not popping out, I open the bator and check, moisten it if need be, careful not to drown the chick, and depending what the hygrometer says, (if below 60%) I mist the eggs, and close the bator. I end up with MUCH better hatches doing the above than just keeping it closed and sitting on my thumb.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Quote:
Chicks won't die because the humidity is low during hatch. They won't die if they dry out. They WILL die if they dehydrate or starve before they can hatch, and that would take about 3 days (they can survive off their absorbed yolk alone for over 2 days). Chicks that pip and die usually have something else wrong with them that is irreversable (ie organs not functioning properly, genetics, etc). The chick that pipped and died was completely out of your hands, there was nothing you could have done to fix it. It's just part of hatching.

 

[astylishgirl]

Thank you for that. In my first try, I had two pips. One is my alien chick and the other died in the shell. That one that died just upset me because I didn't know what I did wrong. If it was just meant to be because something was wrong with it, I can relax. Since it was my first time and it pipped and died fairly quickly, I have had a hard time just letting them go.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

I've been watching a broody banty hen that I have. She hatched out 2 babies. She has been off and on the nest many times Yesterday she took the babies out of the goat house and let them scratch in the dirt then she went back in and got back on the nest. When I checked her this morning she tried to attack me and then went and pulled the eggs under her. I feel that if she can get off the nest like that and leave the eggs out in the open air then opening the bator when you need to can't really hurt too much. Mother nature knows more than we do. When I have to open mine I do mist the eggs alittle. I watch to see if the temp come right back up If it takes too lone I use an old aquarium light over one of the windows and it really heats it back up nicely. Everyone says don't open the bator sit on your hand. I lost 2 chicks the first time by waiting too long This last time I let them go overnight when they couldn't get out I helped alittle. One made it one didn't.

 

[Lov'emSouthernEggs]

Quote:
Chicks won't die because the humidity is low during hatch. They won't die if they dry out. They WILL die if they dehydrate or starve before they can hatch, and that would take about 3 days (they can survive off their absorbed yolk alone for over 2 days). Chicks that pip and die usually have something else wrong with them that is irreversable (ie organs not functioning properly, genetics, etc). The chick that pipped and died was completely out of your hands, there was nothing you could have done to fix it. It's just part of hatching.

I sure needed to read those words. I am getting ready to hatch my second batch on Friday. It's hard to watch some of them not make it but it is part of nature. Easier to watch them not hatch then to have to decide to cull them later.

Hoof/Hen...hang in there. You haven't messed anything up. It's part of the process. I saw the pic of the dark chick. Will be courious to see what it is. You can do this!