Will hatched chicks damage other eggs?

[ZoeS95423]

Hello, this is not my first time hatching chicks, but its my first time hatching more than 5.
I put 13 chicken eggs in my incubator, its just a little giant with a fan.
4 of the eggs have hatched on time, a little early actually seeing that I didn't put the eggs in until later day today.
Either way I had 4 or 5 that have also pipped, but since these already hatched chicks have been banging them around quite a bit actually, I was wondering if they could do any major damage? I can't see the pips anymore because he eggs have been rolled over.
So I am just curious if they will cause any real harm to my unhatched eggs?

 

[brittonia18]

You need to move the eggs upright where the pip is visible otherwise they will die trying to get out face down. As for the banging, I have no idea, but I know people have hatched like 15-20 together so I'm sure it is okay. Just take the chicks out as soon as they are dry and they won't be able to disrupt the other eggs

 

[dekel18042]

But I have been told to keep the incubator closed until all are hatched and dry, that if you open it too soon it can cause the humidity to drop and the membrane on any pipped eggs to shrink wrap and kill the hatching peep.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is possible that opening the incubator could cause the pipped eggs to shrink-wrap. It’s also possible it won’t. There is no absolute guarantee either way.

If that membrane is getting close to dry and you open the incubator and let the humidity out, it’s possible that could put the membrane over the edge. I did that once so I’m convinced it is possible that it could happen. But I have opened the incubator several times with pipped eggs where no eggs became shrink-wrapped. So, yes, there is a risk in opening the incubator if an egg has pipped, but I can’t tell you how high that risk is for you. If I have a reason to do it I will open the incubator during hatch, but I have to have a real reason to take that chance. It’s not something I do lightly.

I occasionally have a chick that pips but does not finish hatching. I don’t think that has anything to do with the other chicks playing rugby with the unhatched eggs. There are several different things that can cause a chick to get that far and then quit. Laying the eggs on the bottom is the recommended way to do it. Check the instructions that came with your incubator. There are several different incubation troubleshooting guides available, telling you what might cause an egg not to hatch. None of them mention the other chicks playing rugby with the unhatched eggs. Some people hatch in egg cartons to keep the other chicks from rolling them around but I don’t worry about it.

One of the times I did open the incubator during hatch, I saw that half an egg from an earlier chick had gotten itself over another egg that had pipped. It covered the pip. I opened the incubator and removed that egg shell. That chick hatched fine and no others were shrink-wrapped. Stuff does occasionally happen during the hatch that you need to respond to, but I don’t take risks with the other chicks because something might possibly happen. I wait until I see a problem and decide if the situation is worth the risk of opening the incubator.

 

[Spongegirl]

No, this is a misunderstanding. Ive written about it lately. I have the same incubator. I open all thru hatches and remove chicks while others are doing their thing. See shrink wrap is not an instant thing. Its not like pressure wrapped of an actual shrink wrapping like we think of. If the chick has a pip it is breathing air and will not suffocate. The membrane could dry out and stick to feathers though. But they are on time and the others are fine so they probably will get out before that happens if they have a pip. Those little incubators don't take long to get rehumidified.

 

[red horse ranch]

Whenever I take a chick out I will shoot a spray of water into the incubator before closing it. I keep the spray bottle handy near the incubator at all times. I also use a cool water vaporizer in the room to keep the humidity at 60%. I live in a dry climate where it's not uncommon to have 5 to 10% outdoor humidity.
The chicks don't always shrink wrap if you remove dry chicks quickly.
I've tried about everything to prevent socker games in the incubator. Sometimes chicks will still hatch face down. But I usually have a few that die while hatching. Whether it's from the rolling or other reasons, I don't know.

 

[ZoeS95423]

Well the other chicks are not completely dry, I have reached in real fast to readjust the direction of the pipped eggs, but they bumped them back to the pip being downwards.
They are also using the other eggs as pillows.
Also, every time a chick hatch my humidity spikes to about 90% from 70% is this normal? I have never noticed this happening before. But I took advantage of the super high humidity and that's when I turned the eggs back right ways earlier.

 

[Spongegirl]

what I do to keep the chicks from knocking the pipped eggs is corner the eggs off with my thermometers acting like a wall. I have also had a screaming chick so loud in the middle of the night i had to take him out of the incubator and into the brooder a little wet. Even when you are wet in 100 degrees sometimes if the wind blows its still cold. I think the fan on them sometimes makes them squawk. Be sure the brooder lamp is close enough that it gives them 100*. they will be fine. don't worry about keeping that top open to the incubator; they wont have a temp or humidity change that will disrupt them that quick.

 

[Tyaloria]

I'm going to have to remove some as I'm doing a staggered hatch. the only way I could think of doing it was to let the first lot hatch and them keep them extra warm in the brooder (maybe cuddled up on a towel) and then wait to the second hatch to catch up.

 

[ZoeS95423]

I have 9 babies! I hatched them out of my own eggs, so they are all mixed breeds. A lot of them look like my spitzhaubens when they were babies, I have 2 of them for roosters no hens though..., but a few of them have fuzzy feet, like my Cochin rooster.
Can a hens egg be fertilized by more than one rooster?

I have 4 more eggs, they haven't done anything yet but I'm hoping they are just a little late, they were all well alive on day 18 when I last candled them before lockdown

ETA:
I should also mention I had to open the bator 2 times to readjust pipping eggs, while doing that if there were shells near by I quick snatched those out. The humid stayed pretty steady between 65 and 70 both times and hasn't drastically changed at all.