Putting Food And Water In Hatcher?

[DAVE07]

Hi All,

I almost always have hatches that lastake over 2 or 3 days. I know that most little chicks can last up to 3 days without food or water, but I must admit that Im always dying to get them out of the bator as soon as possible and it's always an intense moment (worrying about the hatched chicks vs shrink wrapping unhactched eggs). I hatch my eggs in a lab incubator, and just before lockdown, I place the eggs on their sides in a styrofoam box which is kept on the shelf of the incubator and let them hatch out of that which works great.

This time around I was contemplating putting in a very shallow plate of water and sprinkling some pullet starter in the box floor so that the chicks who hatch earlier have something to eat and drink and therefore will enable them to stay in the bator for those few days without me fretting over taking them out & worrying even more about shrink wrapping the unhatched eggs.

Obviously im thinkin if the shallow plate of water will effect humidity too much, but I've got a hydrometer so will adjust accordingly, and also i wont be putting in a massive dish for them to drink from, more something like a jam lid with some water in it etc.

Has anyone done this in the past, any tips, advice or thoughts are welcome!

Cheers,

Dave

 

[cmom]

When they first hatch for their first day they probably wouldn't start eating and drinking. I don't leave my chicks in the incubator. I take them out and put them in a brooder box until they fluff out then they go into a brooder cabinet but I don't hatch in my incubator. I have a cabinet incubator but hatch my chicks in styrofoam incubators.

 

[DAVE07]

great set up you've got there.. My main reason for wanting to give them food/water is so that I dont have to open the incubator door and potentially spoil the possibility of the other eggs hatching. Just wanted to see if others have done this? or if they have any tips, tricks, advice, experiences or thoughts!

 

[al6517]

I always wait till they get to the brooder, but only after a big majority of them have hatched. there will always be a few stragglers, but that is allways tricky when you have styrobators as they are so touchy, and shrink wrap as the styro folks call it is allways an issue.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
Maybe wait for a few to hatch then take them out. I have both LG and Hova-Bators. The LG I can take the viewing windows out and grab the chicks without opening the incubator/hatcher but with the Hova-Bators I have to open them up but I look to see where the chicks are then open the side where it is the easiest to grab them from and pluck them out as fast as I can. I don't take the shells out of the Hova-Bators as I'm trying to do it quickly. I have been keeping my humidity around 35% during incubation and when I put them in the incubator/hatchers I have been raising it to around 75%. I have not had any shrink wrap. I take them out quickly with their shells and the humidity does go down but rebounds quite quickly. I just had a hatch the past couple of days and all but one so far has hatched with no issues at all. I also put a small mason jar or two with sponges in them in the incubator/hatchers which helps to keep the humidity up.