Uneven development, hatching too early

ACW2013

In the Brooder
Jun 23, 2020
5
1
19
I bought a egg incubator from Amazon that had decent ratings. I haven't had great hatching rates and I finally bought an additional temp gauge to monitor temp and humidity (where I found my issue) despite the fan, the temps are uneven. I candled eggs last night (day 18) and noticed at least 2-3 out of about 11 were really far along and I even heard chirping but not cracks or pips in the shell but didn't think anything of it so I placed them on lockdown. This morning I woke to a hatched chick. I'm not sure what to do. Do I pull the chick or leave it? It looks perfectly healthy. I think there may be more close behind but I'm not sure about the others that are late. I don't want jeopardize any of the chicks :(

The incubator I bought
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07DQFLCPL/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o1_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
If no other eggs are externally pipped, opening the incubator quickly to take the lone chick out will do no harm. If there's any possibility the chick could hurt itself, get stuck, fall into water ect, I would absolutely do that. And that's any possibility at all, even if you think it's a long shot. Especially if there's a water reservoir the chick could knock over, climb into, or fall into.
Your other option is to wait until those 2-3 other hot spot chicks pop, and take them all out then. With this early a hatch, things might be really staggered, I don't think strictly following typical lockdown rules is going to be beneficial. I know that in theory chicks don't need anything for a few days, but this chick has hatched early and stressed, and it will benefit from being able to find food and water sooner than waiting for all its slow siblings.
If you have an external pip on one of the other early eggs, wait for that to hatch and then you can move them both. They'll be much much happier with company.
 

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