Hatched chicks in incubator

highwinds2c

In the Brooder
Feb 24, 2025
12
8
16
So hatch day has begun and one chick hatched yesterday earlier than the rest ( under 24 hrs as of now) but the other are just beginning to pip yesterday night. How long can I leave the first chick before it will need access to food and water? The incubator is small and I don't want to risk opening it while waiting for the others to hatch out.
 

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I like to get mine out the bator and in the brooder no longer than 12 hours, they could go for 24 hours but I find that the longer they stay in the bator the more problems they have with legs getting splayed.

You should have your brooder setup and ready for the chicks, if you remove the chicks quickly, it shouldn't have much affect on the other pipping eggs. If they are beginning to 'zip' I'd leave them in until no more are zipping but if they are just piped, I'd remove the hatched chicks from the bator.
 
I like to get mine out the bator and in the brooder no longer than 12 hours, they could go for 24 hours but I find that the longer they stay in the bator the more problems they have with legs getting splayed.

You should have your brooder setup and ready for the chicks, if you remove the chicks quickly, it shouldn't have much affect on the other pipping eggs. If they are beginning to 'zip' I'd leave them in until no more are zipping but if they are just piped, I'd remove the hatched chicks from the bator.
jup brooder is already set up we had one more chick hatch out a couple hours ago and looks like another one is working on coming out. the rest look to just be pips at the moment
 
Excellent question. I hope to be at this point myself in another week and a half.

I had to use google to figure out what you guys were talking about :confused:
Going by the definitions I found, how do you tell when a chick has pipped?
 
Excellent question. I hope to be at this point myself in another week and a half.

I had to use google to figure out what you guys were talking about :confused:
Going by the definitions I found, how do you tell when a chick has pipped?
There will be a tiny, triangular crack in the shell. Sometimes it can be hard to see.
 
There will be a tiny, triangular crack in the shell. Sometimes it can be hard to see.


Thank you.
The definition I got... I should say the first definition... said it was when the chick breaks the inner membrane.
Some more googlefu said there was inner pip and external pip.

I was thinking maybe the eggs started moving or something when the chick broke the inner membrane and started breathing.

But what do I know? My eggs are still turning around in a circle :lol:

Bottom line, I guess if you don't see any cracked/zipped eggs, it's OK to get in there and quickly remove any dry chicks.
 
Thank you.
The definition I got... I should say the first definition... said it was when the chick breaks the inner membrane.
Some more googlefu said there was inner pip and external pip.

I was thinking maybe the eggs started moving or something when the chick broke the inner membrane and started breathing.

But what do I know? My eggs are still turning around in a circle :lol:

Bottom line, I guess if you don't see any cracked/zipped eggs, it's OK to get in there and quickly remove any dry chicks.
yeah the internal pip isn't visible as it is just the membrain inside the egg but an external will sometimes be hard to spot also but means that the chick has cracked through the shell.

So far we have 5 chicks out with 5 more eggs in the incubator tho I only am seeing pips on 2 of the eggs will keep an eye and check again tomorrow to see if more hatched out.
 
Thank you.
The definition I got... I should say the first definition... said it was when the chick breaks the inner membrane.
Some more googlefu said there was inner pip and external pip.

I was thinking maybe the eggs started moving or something when the chick broke the inner membrane and started breathing.

But what do I know? My eggs are still turning around in a circle :lol:

Bottom line, I guess if you don't see any cracked/zipped eggs, it's OK to get in there and quickly remove any dry chicks.
Ah. There are internal pips and external pips. You can see the internal pip if you candle. The external pip is the break in the shell.
 

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