CAN I OPEN INCUBATOR BEFORE ALL EGGS ARE HATCHED?

[jen61871]

Hi!
Last year I hatched 24 standard sized chicks out of my incubator, and as each one hatched I took it out of the incubator right away and put it straight into the brooder. All but 1 chick survived, and the one that didn't I had to assist out of the shell.
Right now I am incubating 16 bantam eggs and I read that you should NOT open incubator lid until all eggs are hatch or risk killing all unhatched eggs.
Please give me advice here. I hear bantams can be harder to begin with and I don't want to mess this up. They go on lock down friday, and I read they can be early hatchers too. So I expect hatching to start anywhere from Sunday to Wed.
Thanks in advance!!!

 

[getaclue]

I usually wait until at least 4 have hatched, and are dry, before trying to remove them. While I expect them to move the eggs around some, when it gets too crowded, or they get too active with the eggs, I move them out.

 

[kittypaws004]

I think the manual just means don't leave it open for an extended period of time. If a chick hatches early and you want to get it out, I think you will be able to safely do so, just do it quick.
A chick can survive about 2 days without anything due to yolk absorption, so if you want to wait for the others to hatch before opening the incubator. Leave the early hatcher in there unless you think it needs to leave the incubator.

 

[Sing Brightly Bantams]

In my opinion, the risk of a hatch failure caused by the temporary loss of ideal environmental conditions is overstated.

In some cases, low humidity will dehydrate the membrane encasing the hatching chick and result in 'shrink wrap', which will usually kill the bird if an assisted hatch is not performed. This is far from an universal constant, however: I remove chicks after about 12 hours, whether I have eggs left or not. I don't like to remove chicks immediately, because I believe that the risk of them being chilled is too great. Bantam chicks—which I hatch almost exclusively now—are more delicate than their large fowl variants.

I still avoid exposing eggs to unnecessary drafts while they are hatching. In your case, unless your incubator is not safe for the hatched chicks, I would wait until more had hatched and remove them in groups.

 

[starri33]

I let mine dry before removing.

 

[ShannonR]

I would remove them after hatching if you wish. Just do it quickly!

 

[jen61871]

I usually wait until at least 4 have hatched, and are dry, before trying to remove them. While I expect them to move the eggs around some, when it gets too crowded, or they get too active with the eggs, I move them out.

Thank you!

 

[jen61871]

In my opinion, the risk of a hatch failure caused by the temporary loss of ideal environmental conditions is overstated.

In some cases, low humidity will dehydrate the membrane encasing the hatching chick and result in 'shrink wrap', which will usually kill the bird if an assisted hatch is not performed. This is far from an universal constant, however: I remove chicks after about 12 hours, whether I have eggs left or not. I don't like to remove chicks immediately, because I believe that the risk of them being chilled is too great. Bantam chicks—which I hatch almost exclusively now—are more delicate than their large fowl variants.

I still avoid exposing eggs to unnecessary drafts while they are hatching. In your case, unless your incubator is not safe for the hatched chicks, I would wait until more had hatched and remove them in groups.

Ok thank you! My incubator holds 40 eggs and I only have 16 (maybe a couple more, on first candling I just wasn't 100% sure so I left them in) eggs so there will be more then enough room not to remove each one as it hatches. Sunday will only be day 18 but I read they can hatch from that day on so I plan on having a nice warm brooder that day. I candled a few tonight and air cells look like their where they should be for the day,