What to do with the "early bird"?

[nwtim]

This is the 20th day of incubation for a 17-egg hatch (33 were set, but 16 ended up not being fertilized). On day 18, we candled the eggs that still looked clear on day 14, removed them (they were all still clear), and "locked down" the incubator.

Halfway through day 19 we heard chirping and by the end of the day our first chick had hatched. No other pips were visible yet. Today - day 20 - we have several more pips and another chick hatched, but the rest are looking like day 21 or later chicks.

What should we do with the chick that's been running around the incubator for 24 hours and is completely dry? If we remove it, we'll compromise the "lockdown" and possibly lose some time of 70% humidity. On the other hand, sticking with the "lockdown' concept will likely keep the first chick in the 'bator for 2 or more days.

Any experience with this? Any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[Gypsy07]

Well, they can go up to 72 hours without food or water after hatching, so it would almost certainly be fine in there. I've done that before and it's always worked out okay. But it can get a bit annoying when they start kicking the other eggs all over the place. I tend to go in quickly, take out the chick and replace it with a small piece of wet sponge to keep humidity up. I've never had a problem doing it that way either...

Good luck!

 

[nwtim]

Well, they can go up to 72 hours without food or water after hatching, so it would almost certainly be fine in there. I've done that before and it's always worked out okay. But it can get a bit annoying when they start kicking the other eggs all over the place. I tend to go in quickly, take out the chick and replace it with a small piece of wet sponge to keep humidity up. I've never had a problem doing it that way either...

Good luck!

That's kinda what I thought. We've taken chicks out before the rest hatched before, but weren't sure if it was the best idea or not. We've got a bunch more hatching now, so we'll probably just move the dry ones to the brooder tonight and watch the humidity closely for the remaining ones. Thanks!