Staggered Hatch Date Worries

[Soup1129]

Hello Everyone!
This is my first time incubating eggs! Technically it was my parents endeavor but I have been home from college and seemed to be the only one interested in researching the best incubating/ hatching tips! We've had chickens several times but never incubated any eggs (we occasionally had a broody hen).
Anyway, I was wondering about staggered hatch dates and possibly shrink wrapping the hatching chicks. Most of the baby eggs were put in on evening 1. Then the next day my dad added 4 more in the afternoon. And on afternoon 3 he added 4 more. At first I didn't think it would be too much of a problem since they were still relatively close together but now after doing some research certain things trouble me.
Since you are not supposed to open the incubator once the eggs are put in lockdown, what should I do if the chicks from evening 1 have hatched and dried already while the others are in the process/ have just pipped? I am afraid if I open the incubator to take out the chicks and their egg shells I will risk hurting the still hatching ones. But if I wait too long the chicks from evening 1 will get thirsty and hungry (won't they?)
Thank you so much for any help or suggestions!
Sophie

 

[molly1chickens]

You can leave chicks in the incubator for 48 hours after they hatched (they can actually survive without food & water for 72 hours as they live off the absorbed yolk sack so don’t worry too much). When the first lot are dry looks for pips in the other eggs- if there are none then it’s fine to quickly take the chicks out into the brooder. If it gets to the point where the chicks have been in the incubator for a long time and there are still pips in other eggs, it is usually ok to quickly lift the lid to take the chicks out and place a piece of warm damp cloth near the pipping eggs so the humidity doesn’t drop (I’ve done this and had no problems). Good luck