Too many in incubator?

[HenTea]

I am sure its been asked, but I will do it again. We have our 1st incubator. It holds 42. We are down to 31. 1st one hatched last night at 1 am. I have 11 almost 12 right now. Its chaotic in the incubator. Chicks crashing eggs, chicks stepping on new borns. I am worried about the chicks. I know I should not open it. I need to let them dry. I really want to set up the heat lamp and a warm spot and start pulling the older ones. I am worried about them getting hurt or the ones not hatched yet having problems.

What do I do?

 

[HenTea]

i take them out as they hatch and put them in the brooder wet .. if its set up properly there will be no problems, an incandescent works best so they can get to a spot thats warm enough or move away as necessary .. and lifting the lid to grab a chick and spent shell takes a couple of seconds and wont hurt a thing .. ive done this for a long time, best way to do it.

We got the brooder up to heat, put them in a shoe box and ran for it. They are all happy and cozy in the brooder. I will take a few out later and again before work tomorrow. 9 in the brooder, 5 in the incubator 17 eggs left. Thank you everyone for your help. I though you could not move them till they are dry and been in there for a day or so.

 

[HenTea]

Not sure if anyone is interested, but all are hatched. Kinda. We lost one that did not zipper. Not sure when it passed. One that is having a hard time walking. We are going to leave the last 3 with food and water in the incubator to see if it improves. It has been doing better since I removed the other chicks. 30 may be 29 is not bad for our 1st time.

 

[HenTea]

Ohhh dear, okay that does make it a touch more complicated. I have the brooder in the same room as the incubator this time so it's been easy enough for me to just scoop them up by hand and gently put them in the brooder. (I've always done my brooders indoors personally but that's just because of my setup and such). I would make sure that the brooder is as close to 100% warmed up before moving them for sure. If you have a whole bunch you could grab a cardboard box and gently place them in there to transport them quickly to the brooder once it's warm. If you're working with a cabinet and you have a spare hatching tray you're not using, pop them into that and transport them that way.

How this happens, is my husband does them and I fix them. They are his chickens. One day I may learn and fix them before he does them. I dont really want the chicks in my house. They make a big mess. Its is chilli out side still. ( northern Canada) I have the thermometer in the brooder. Taking the old shells out has helped. Will see how things go and if I have too will move brooder inside. or at least a temporary one.

 

[mcdze]

i take them out as they hatch and put them in the brooder wet .. if its set up properly there will be no problems, an incandescent works best so they can get to a spot thats warm enough or move away as necessary .. and lifting the lid to grab a chick and spent shell takes a couple of seconds and wont hurt a thing .. ive done this for a long time, best way to do it.

 

[HenTea]

Your not wrong, what you dont know is that is -3C 26.6F and snowing. Got about 3 inch so far. We did get them out before the snow and the temp is holding in the brooder. We normally keep them in the house. I not having the mess this year. Lots of people do keep them in buildings out of the house here. Its our 1st time and the 1st time incubating. We are learning and the last thing we want is to kill the chicks.

 

[HenTea]

I feel like I was facing the same issue. 10 of my 31 (I originally set 42/6 not fertile/5 quit early) eggs didn’t hatch and I feel like it had to do with all of the hatched ducklings trampling over the eggs. The 10 were alive and well the day that hatching began.

I eventually opened the incubator and removed egg shells and ducklings but that could have caused some shrink wrapping. I had to assist one due to that. I should have inspected the dead unhatched ducklings. I still ended up with 21 but it would have been nicer if I would have had more hatch.

Definitely utilizing a brooder earlier next time! Just need to figure out how to salvage the humidity levels. I even turned on the shower and steamed up the bathroom

I not sure why, but our humidly is super high. Maybe the snow? We ran a few out to the brooder this morning. I have 5 left in the incubator and 6 eggs. All have pips.

 

[HenTea]

Possibly with the snow. I’m in Florida so dry hatching is doable bc humidity is so ridiculous. Just want to be careful during hatch time so I add water on hatch day and keep the bathroom steamed if I need to open the incubator.

It sounds like you’re having a good hatch

We have not lost one yet. I now have 6 in the incubator and 5 to hatch. 31 eggs at lock down. Its day 22. Its our 1st time! I am so proud of us. lol

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They dry long before they look fluffy. Once I have ay least 2 hatched, I don't leave them longer than an hour unless they hatch when I'm at work or asleep.

 

[killmak]

I agree I remove them from the incubator pretty quickly. If they stay too long they get so active and the bull over all the remaining eggs. A few hours after they hatch I move them unless there is another in the middle of zipping.