First chick out at day 16! What to do with the others??

[David Normandy]

Hi, I'm fairly new to incubating (although not to rearing chickens), this is my second batch of hatchlings using an incubator. I had a pretty early hatch last time (all between day 18 and 20, 6 out of 8 eggs). SO I figured that the thermo reading was off and I lowered this batch one degree and put in a thermometer (temp set at 37° on the machine, 38,5° on the thermometer). Everything seemed to be going well (I put in 26 eggs this time) but my son told me he heard a chick and I told him he was crazy but lo and behold there was a poor little chick fallen among the turning trays! He is one of three bantam eggs btw. I rescued him immediately and put him into the brooder with heat and he sipped some water. Seems to be really lively and healthy. I've never heard of a day 16 chick! (Put them in the incu at 2pm on June 26th.) I put all the eggs on lockdown because I'm afraid of them turning in trays if there are others about to pop. Was that a bad idea? Should I raise the humidity now??

 

[lazy gardener]

Not a bad idea at all. When you raise the humidity depends on how the air cells look, and whether there are any more pipping. What did you keep humidity at 'till now? Eggs can in theory go into lock down any time after day 14.

1. I suggest that you calibrate your thermometer against a known to be accurate medical grade thermometer in a cup/bowl of water at about 100*F. (Most are guaranteed to be accurate +/- .2*F.) THEN check all areas of the bator for warm/cool spots.

2. Does your bator have a fan? If so, hatching temp should be 99.5. If no fan, incubation temp should be 102*F measured at surface of eggs.

3. Bantam eggs often hatch a bit earlier than LF eggs.

4. Is it possible that the early hatcher came from an egg that got a head start in the nest box before being collected?

 

[David Normandy]

Hi thanks so much for your reply! There isn't any pipping although the air cells all look good and transparent and the egg dark. (I candled them before lockdown). I've kept the humidity at 60 until now. I'm going into town to buy a new thermometer today. Yes, my bator has a fan. 99.5 is 37.5 so I'm still too high (101°)! Should I put the temp down? Don't want to cause shock. I did get the eggs from a farm directly from under the hens, BUT the eggs were out for a day and a half before going into the bator, isn't that a bit long for embryos to survive?

 

[David Normandy]

Here's the little Bantam Araucana

 

[lazy gardener]

Hi thanks so much for your reply! There isn't any pipping although the air cells all look good and transparent and the egg dark. (I candled them before lockdown). I've kept the humidity at 60 until now. I'm going into town to buy a new thermometer today. Yes, my bator has a fan. 99.5 is 37.5 so I'm still too high (101°)! Should I put the temp down? Don't want to cause shock. I did get the eggs from a farm directly from under the hens, BUT the eggs were out for a day and a half before going into the bator, isn't that a bit long for embryos to survive?

Most of us use dry incubation, which is a mis-nomer, b/c it's not dry, just lower humidity. I keep my humidity at 30 - 40% till lock down. Humidity is a means to insure that the egg looses the correct amount of moisture. You adjust the humidity to ensure that the air cells develop according to the chart in "HE 101". If the humidity is too high, the chick grows too big, the air cell is too small. The chick has a hard time turning to pip in the egg, and when she does pip, she may drown b/c there is still too much albium in the egg. Hatching Eggs 101 in the learning center explains all of this. along with so much other useful information.

Yes you should decrease the temp. commercial hatcheries actually lower the temp for hatching.

 

[David Normandy]

Wow I had no idea about humidity, I just did what the bator instructions said, which hasn't gotten me too far because I don't think either of the readings given is accurate.
So I decreased the temp and I'm off to read the articles in the learning center. I don't understand why they will sell bators with false info. Thanks again for your help.

 

[David Normandy]

Another egg just hatched btw (day 17 today). I guess that's not a good thing, it's not a bantam.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm a crusader re: incubation. IMO, the first thing a customer should do when he buys an incubator: Read the information about how to plug it in, how to clean it, how to adjust the thermostat. Then take a big black "Sharpie" and black out all of the instructions about what temperature and humidity to use, and (if it has water wells) putting the water in the wells. After fixing the instructions, go to the learning center and read ALL of HE101. Yes, it's a lot to read, and you will think that some of it is not pertinent to your needs. But, I'd rather be over educated than under educated. Especially, when you hold the lives of those little egglets in your hand! Then, spend a few days getting to know the quirks of your bator before putting eggs in it. Find out where the warm and cool spots are, and if it has any temp spikes. I like to run a bator for at least 3 days, loaded with pint bottles of water to approximate the volume of eggs you'll be setting before putting eggs in.

 

[David Normandy]

I'm a crusader re: incubation. IMO, the first thing a customer should do when he buys an incubator: Read the information about how to plug it in, how to clean it, how to adjust the thermostat. Then take a big black "Sharpie" and black out all of the instructions about what temperature and humidity to use, and (if it has water wells) putting the water in the wells. After fixing the instructions, go to the learning center and read ALL of HE101. Yes, it's a lot to read, and you will think that some of it is not pertinent to your needs. But, I'd rather be over educated than under educated. Especially, when you hold the lives of those little egglets in your hand! Then, spend a few days getting to know the quirks of your bator before putting eggs in it. Find out where the warm and cool spots are, and if it has any temp spikes. I like to run a bator for at least 3 days, loaded with pint bottles of water to approximate the volume of eggs you'll be setting before putting eggs in.

Thank you so much! I have been reading and reading. I had no idea how complex the incubating process could be. I guess it makes sense. I am afraid that it's too late for this hatch; I think that the humidity was too high from the beginning, as well as the temp. So there are certain eggs whose air cells seem to be too small. But because I have two chicks out and three pips it's not like I can try to lower the humidity at this point. I feel kind of helpless. It's only day 18 though, maybe there is a chance the others will be okay. I'm going to follow all the instructions you gave me as well as what I found reading the HE101 on this site for the next batch. Thanks again, I'll post pics

 

[David Normandy]

Hi so it's day 20 today and I have 18 out of 26 chicks plus three pips. I just have a concern about the incubator. Since the humidity has been up for several days and the chicks have been hatching since day 16 it's starting to smell a bit. How can I avoid a bacterial infestation?? I took out the hatched eggs but the water wells and overall hygiene of the bator seem a bit gross. Any suggestions? Also, one chick was born with a bloody tummy and seems to be doing ok but he's not as active as the others. I feed him water and bring him to food but hasn't eaten much. Thanks for your help!