When do you move to brooder?

[Bnemeth]

How long do you keep chicks in the incubator after hatching? Can they stay in "too long" waiting for the other eggs to hatch?

 

[alicefelldown]

My 'lock down' lasts for five full days. It gets messy and chaotic in there, but prevents the late hatchers from being shrinkwrapped.

 

[kimandrich]

What about food and water for the chicks already hatched?

 

[Debbi]

Five days in the hatcher without food or water sounds way too long to me. I take mine out as soon as they are up and running AND dry/fluffy. On that note, let me say that if someone else has started to zip, I will leave them till that one is done and dry. The longest I've ever left chicks in the hatcher was 2 days. If you are waiting for more to pip/zip, get in and get out fast, and make sure to bump the humidity back up. JMHO

 

[alicefelldown]

No one said anything about fluffy chicks running around for 5 days w/o food. That would be cruel. Lock down starts at day 18 - they don't hatch until day 21 or so. 5 days from 18 is 23 - the chicks are there for 2-3 days at most... the same as if they had been shipped.

I do a dry hatch / weight loss method, which in my dry southern CA climate works perfectly.

http://paraguinparadise.netfirms.com/Dry Incubation.htm

For foam incubators: On day 18, open the incubator and add a very small amount of water to one of the water channels in the bottom of the incubator. If you notice the humidity in the incubator is above 65% add only a tablespoon of water or two. If your incubator humidity is below 65% add about ½ of the channel full of water. Remove the eggs from the turner and lay them flat on their sides. Try to allow a little room between them. Then close the incubator. Place the vent plug that doesn't have the metal inside it back into the bator. You know the one that opens directly into the inside of the bator? Leave the one that has the metal inside of it out of the hole for now. Now, follow the next direction very closely.

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, OPEN THE INCUBATOR FOR 5 FULL DAYS.

Hate to shout at you but this last 5 days will make or break your hatch. I get a little aggravated when people will go through all the previous steps and then it gets down to the moment, and they can't resist opening the incubator. Every time you open the incubator, you release valuable moisture out of the incubator and allow dry air in. This is what causes chicks to stick to their shell membranes. All you will have to do is lose a few chicks to this and you will change your habits. This means don't open the incubator until day 23. I do recommend that on day 20, you place the last vent plug back into the bator. This will allow the moisture to stay inside the bator for the last day and while the chicks are hatching. When the first chick hatches, you will notice that the windows in the foam incubators will form a lot of condensation of them. If this condensation is covering nearly the entire window, remove the vent plug that covers the hole with the metal in it and turn it upside down and place it directly over the hole you just took it out of. This will allow a little bit of moisture to escape. In an hour or so, you will be able to see inside the window again. If it doesn't dry the window a little, then slide it away from the hole just a tiny bit. Then check it again in about 1 hour.


On day 23 the chicks will be ready to take out of the incubator and placed in the brooder area.​

 

[mississippifarmboy]

We sit all our eggs to hatch on Friday. Saturday evening they come out of the hatcher and go in the brooder. If there are any that are pipping late they just get the chance of being shrink wrapped. I clean the incubator every Sunday. If the late hatchers aren't out by then they just get pitched.

We use a sportsman and run staggered hatches all spring, summer and early fall though.

 

[kimandrich]

THAT sounds better, haha

. Thanks for clarifying. I was kinda worried.