Quick help please-hatching in turner

[cafrhe]

Clearly there was a miscount....Today was supposed to be lockdown and I heard a cheep when I walked past the incubator...I looked in and had one zipped and 2 pipped. I swear, even if I miscounted they are supposed to hatch tomorrow! But anyway, I have 14 other eggs with no pips and I am concerned about how to place them in the hatcher.

Last hatch I had, I had 2 pipped chicks die due to assumed drowning--they got knocked around by hatched chicks and ended up pip hole down and it looks like fluid killed them.

So I am assuming they have arranged themselves in the position they want to be in by now and I dont want to place them face down--I put the 2 who had pipped pip up. The others are in egg cartons, same position as in the turner.

How should I put them??

Thanks!

 

[oakhollow]

They can hatch in the cartons like you have them. Some recommend them putting them like that if the air cells are small anyway to help prevent drowning.

 

[cafrhe]

Thanks. The ones who were ready pipped and I then put them on their sides. 5 chicks so far, 1 more pipping and I think the rest were 3 days behind these. Not sure how I messed up on timing so badly. The ones hatching were shipped eggs and the rest are my own.....

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Were they bantam? Those often hatch early.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I have CRS, so I often have chicks hatch in the turning racks. It's no big deal, personally I think they escape the shell easier that way. Just turn the racks off, perferably in the flat position so the chicks won't get smashed between them as they tilt back & forth.
You did fine the way you put yours in cartons.

 

[cafrhe]

Not bantams--I definitely oopsed. I got eggs in the mail. The breeder recommended putting them in the incubator right away and not to turn for a few days. So I put them in my hatcher. 3 days later I put them and some of my eggs in the turner. I never noted that I had a 3 day difference in my notes, I put them down as the same hatch day. The other eggs hatched 3 days later....

I have had 3-4 chicks die in the last 2 hatches due to drowning. I didnt know it was possible. 2 pipped eggs got turned with the hole down when hatched chicks ran amuck. I didnt notice until they were the last to hatch and I picked htem up-2 healthy chicks with fluid dried around their beaks. A 3rd had zipped all the way around and I guess ended up beak down and it also seemed to have drowned.

I now have had 4-5 chicks hatch in the egg crates and do just fine. I may just set them up that way from now on. I am really bothered by the fact that those chicks were almost hatched and died.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Sounds like the stuff I do.
Just a side note- you might have too high of humidity during incubation if chicks are drowning. There shouldn't be THAT MUCH liquid inside the shell and they should hatch in any position.

 

[cafrhe]

Thanks for the tip. This is the first time it happened in 2 years of hatching. I have never seen that much fluid. I will try lowering the humidity and see if things go back to normal. I didnt think I was too much higher, but maybe I didnt keep a good enough read this last hatch.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I've done what the incubator instructions say but that's too wet for me and I have problems. I've done dry hatching but that's too dry for me and I have problems.
What works best for me is dumping in a cup of water when I set the eggs. In several days it dries up and I do not replace it during the hatch. Then at lockdown I put the eggs in the bator I use as a hatcher and dump in a cup of water. Honestly, I never pay any attention to the humidity meter and have no idea of what it is at any given time.
I'm on the Gulf Coast where it's hot & humid and my bators are in a non-climate controlled room. Your mileage will vary.

 

[cafrhe]

You made me think more! This was the first hatch after it got humid. We have been pretty dry until the last few weeks and are much more humid now...I probably didnt compensate for that. I have had to adjust heat lamps for the chicks as well since it is so much warmer.