TIMING: Incubating and vaccinating

[tarbios2]

Hello! We just bought some hatching eggs -- our first (SQUEE!!) -- and they're currently being shipped. I've spent the last few days reading everything I can about incubating but of course some questions arose -- I really, really want to make sure we're doing things correctly.

I am under the impression that you don't remove the chicks from the incubator until all the eggs have hatched (up to 3 days). Is this correct? Or can the chicks be moved prior to the rest hatching? Can we remove the chicks form the incubator individually?

Because here's the deal: If chicks are supposed to be vaccinated against Marek's at one day old, and I can't move them from the incubator until, say, day 3, what do I do? (Am I over thinking here?)

Any input would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

~t

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes you are overthinking it but I can help you do that.

Instead of accepting that they need to be vaccinated at Day 1, answer the question “Why do they need to be vaccinated at Day 1?” Why did they say that?

Marek’s is pretty easily spread. It can spread through the air from dander flying off chickens that have Marek’s. The chicks need to be protected from coming into contact with any of that dander for a week to ten days after they are vaccinated to give the vaccine time to take effect. The sooner they are vaccinated the sooner the vaccine will take effect. But it really doesn’t matter if that is day 1 or Day 3. It’s how long they are kept protected from coming into contact with that dander that counts.

Again, answer the question “Why are you not supposed to open the incubator during hatch?”

During incubation a membrane forms around the chick to protect it when it comes into contact with the inside of the egg shell. Without this membrane the chick can get stuck to the inside of the egg shell and die. If that membrane dries out, it can shrink around the chick and prevent it from hatching. That’s what we mean when we say ”shrink-wrap”.

Just because something might possibly happen does not mean it absolutely will each and every 100% of the time. It’s possible, though not absolutely certain, that if you open the incubator after an egg has pipped the drop in humidity could cause that membrane to dry out and shrink around the chick. If the egg has not pipped it’s not a concern. It’s only after an egg has pipped that you worry about that. A lot of people open their incubators to take chicks out all the time and just don’t have a big problem with shrink-wrapping a chick. I have opening my incubator a few times after an egg has pipped to deal with a problem. I have shrink-wrapped one chick doing that so I know it’s possible, but usually I don’t have a problem. Still, it’s a risk I try to avoid.

If your average incubating humidity is low, that membrane might be real close to dried out any so it doesn’t take much to dry it out. Some eggs have thinner shells than others or maybe more porosity and some whites are more watery than others so they tend to lose more moisture during incubation. These are more prone to shrink-wrapping. If your humidity during lockdown is low, that can lead to the problem. When you open an incubator, some humidity escapes. How much humidity escapes, how long it takes for the humidity to recover, and how close to dried out that membrane is to start with all can have an effect.

For most of us shrink-wrapping is fairly rare even if we occasionally open the incubator during hatch, but it’s good practice to not push your luck. Realize there is a risk in doing that. You really feel rotten when you kill a chick doing that.

There are a lot of different things that can affect when a chick actually hatches. Heredity, humidity, how and how long you store them, and just differences in the eggs. Average incubating temperatures makes a big difference too. In a forced air incubator the humidity and temperature should be the same throughout but in a still air these can vary depending on where you are inside that incubator.

With most of my hatches, whether in an incubator or under a broody, they are basically over within 24 hours of the first one coming out. I have had some go more than two full days though. With my previous hatch, 23 chicks were out within 30 hours of the first one pipping. In my previous hatch, one was out and moving around more than 24 hours before another one even pipped, then the last 16 were out within about 16 hours. I’ve had hatches a full two days early, both under a broody and in my incubator. I’ve had many hatches pretty much right on time with both a broody and in that same incubator. No two hatches are identical.

Hopefully this gives you enough to think about. Good luck!

 

[tarbios2]

Thank you so much-- this response is really helpful. As we live in an area where there are no chickens, the chance of dander being an issue is nil. So in the incubator they will stay, until the hatching is done.

Thank you!