Still waiting...

NancyP1

Chirping
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3 pips..one has started to zip, no progress since last nite. Another has a quarter size hole pecked away from the shell, but the membrane is still intact? The temp and humidity dropped overnight..97 for temp and 73 for humidity..sound ok yet? Today is hatch day. The one with no progress has been almost 24 hours..(the longest 24 hours ever!)
 
temp was ok for the drop but your humidity is a little high. You want your humidity about 60 to 65 %. Sometimes it can take awhile for them to hatch. Once the first one hatches and starts peeping it kinda signals the others and then they usually hatch pretty fast.
 
ok, I will take one of the plugs out..just had one hatch! Not the 2 I have been watching, but a chick just the same
smile.png
 
Wow, since the chick hatched the humidity has jumped up to 81! Should I lift the cover for a few seconds?
 
As always, humidity is a matter of opinion and personal experience. I run all my lockdowns at 75%+ and have never had a problem with it. If your humidity has been good throughout the incubation and your chicks have lost the correct amount of moisture by day 18, you can pretty much have your lockdown humidity as high as you want without any problems. I ran one lockdown with humidity up past 90% for a day and a half, and the chicks hatched perfectly and still managed to dry off in the bator just fine. That was in a fan assisted bator though. I don't think they'd have dried off very well in a still air bator with less air exchange...

If one of yours has started to zip, that's the clearest sign possible that your humidity is okay. If they can zip, they're not stuck! Sounds like they're doing okay. Just resist the temptation to open the bator and help ones that don't seem to be making any progress. Good luck with them all!
 
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And NO, don't lift the cover. High humidity is okay. Humidity always jumps when the first one pops out of the shell. Don't worry about it!
 
Thanks, first hatch since I was a kid! (long time ago!) Not lifting the top is soo hard! The one that hatched is dragging his shell all over the incubator! It is still attached, hope it doesn't catch on something and get torn off! Oh so stressful and exciting! I have never seen one have a quarter size piece of shell off and no hole in the membrane though..hope its ok. 1 out 9 to go!
 

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