WHAT DO WE DO?QUICK please !!**UPDATE:PICS!**

[bantyshanty]

First, if you have to go in to get chicks out who are spaced far apart in the hatch, if you have styrofoam 'bator (LG, HovaBator), this trick works to keep the humidity from dipping down:

Wash your hands VERY well with sap & hot water. Get a clean bath towel. Turn on the shower head & spray hot water on the towel till it's pretty damp & starting to drip. Wring it out slightly. Take it in to your 'bator room quickly. Locate the chicks visually before you go in. THen drape the towel over the entire bator, lengthwise, leaving a long length to get yourself under. Put your hands under the hot towel and slip both into the 'bator, keeping the towel over your arms. Grab anything fuzzy you can find, and whisk it out onto your lap or a soft blanket, or your shirt, if you have a tight shirt or a bra to hold you chicks in to keep them warm. ALWAYS close the bator with one hand & check when you take the towel off to make sure it's sealed as tight as before. Your hygrometer(s) should read within 5% of your last humidity reading before opening it. The steam from the wet towel negates the moist air coming out when you put your hands in. This action should have taken 1 second per chick or less. Bantams can be scooped up by touch in 2s & 3s.
I've done this a dozen times & never had subsequent chicks shrink-wrapped or fail to hatch once pipped. Limit it to once, at most twice, per hatch.

Better not to go in at all, however.

If you have a moving-air 'bator & you've kept the huidity around 50% throughout the hatch, 60-65% should be fine, and only above 75% for a long time should you worry.
In a styrofoam 'bator, here again, you can always make an extra hole or two with a pointed object.

 

[poultryrox11]

It is a good suggestion, but i am still wondering, How long till they should all be pipped?

 

[setting_silkie]

I've heard some can take longer than the 21 days to pip. I still have 4 in the bator that are not pipped (and I know there's a chick in there) and it's day 22. Starting to lose hope now

 

[poultryrox11]

Quote:
Don't lose hope! I'm sure there is still a chance!

 

[NYRIR]

Ok,I'm not hijacking...I had my DD post this thread earlier. So for an update...there are currently 21 hatched (of 36) and one pipped.3 have pipped and died.The rest have no pips yet.I am trying to wait until the one pipped is hatched before I open the bator to get the other chicks out.Some have been in there for 36 hours already.The humidity continues to climb up to 80% sometimes 85%,and then (I know it's not suggested to do) but I use a blow dryer on warm for a few seconds at a time to decrease humidity because the hatched chicks start to pant when it gets that high!I told my DH to keep checking on them through the night because I am at work

I told him if by morning no more have pipped/hatched to take them out and put them in the brooder.I told him to add sugar to the water in the brooder and dip the beaks.I'm so nervous about this because I'm stuck HERE AT WORK! And....to make matters worse, my boss had asked me to cover tonight only 11-7 but upon getting to work I found out there is no one to relieve me until 3 pm

I wouldn't care as much if it weren't for the chicks!!!
Anyone think they'll be ok overnight for night 2 in the bator??

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
That does sound reasonable and I will be saving this info for future use.Maybe in the morning....if chicks are trying to hatch still...while I move the older ones.BTW,I have a still air bator....LG

 

[anaiyuk]

Hi, I'm new to this forum but I was hoping that I might be able to help! I've had chicks hatch out as late as 3 days after the first. If you are wondering what is going on in there you could turn the heat up in the house and candle them to see if you can see the little beak in the air sack turning it carefully. I would only reccomend doing this if you are considering throwing the eggs away and want to know if they have any chance of life as this will mess with the enviroment that you have created for the chicks.

While some may not call it drowning there is some truth to it. The chicks can suffocate in the egg after they have pipped due to too much moisture! It seems to be a little bit of a hard balance to achieve. If they are to wetjust crack the incubator. Don't use anything to help dry out the processs as that will encourag "shrink wrap".

Did you happen to let the heat go down a little, if I remember it is about five degrees. If they are too hot they will have trouble pipping as they are already being exausted by the heat.

 

[silkiechicken]

I'm just dropping in to say that I don't measure my humidity or change it between day 1 till day 21... Sometimes the bator dries out, sometimes I spill extra water in there. Temperature is much more important than humidity, and not all chicks are meant to hatch. Many die early, many die just before hatch, and there are always a few that die in the first week due to defects on their inside that they didn't die from while in the egg.

Hatches are often 48 hrs if not longer between the first pip and the last out. Try not to stress too much. 72 hours in your bator is a whole heck of a lot less stressful than 72 hours sitting in a shipping box bouncing around the post office.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Amen!

 

[NYRIR]

Anaiyuk- OK...I only used the blow dryer because of the other chicks panting...I was very careful not to blow it directly on the eggs that were pipped.Maybe I should have DH just crack it open for a second...but then the temp will drop?So far the temp has been ok,save a couple of times it dropped to about 96-98 for a few minutes at a time.

Silkiechicken-Thank you for responding to this...I value your experience! My concern is as I stated above,it's the other chicks...I am so afraid to leave them in there much past tomorrow around noon-ish(that will be 48 hours for the first ones)...reason being there are dead pipped and zipped eggs in there and I can start to smell them

Isn't that bad for the live ones? I am trying not to stress too much,but I have been so attentive to the bator,I am obsessed with my chickens

and add to that I have been losing sleep to monitor it and now I'm stuck at work for 12 more hours

In the morning,my DH is supposed to call me with an update and if no more have pipped and the one that is pipped hatches(it's been pipped for a long time)then I am going to have him move the chicks to the brooder and keep the "good" eggs in there another day or two to be sure.Does this sound ok?

gryeyes- I also value your experience...so,what do you think I should do?