when chicks that hatch first knock the other eggs around

[afarhat8]

none of my hatches have been spead over a period of more than 24 hours, so i try not to take chicks out a few at a time. rather, i prefer to leave them in until they are dried and fluffed up, and that way don't have to open the incubator often. the problem i have is that the chicks that pip earliest start running around inside the incubator and knock the eggs that are still pipping and cause them to roll within the incubator. so a chick that is still pipping and has made a small hole in its shell gets knocked by an early pipper and ends up with the pipped part of the shell facing the bottom of the incubator instead of pointing toward the top. doesn't this make it harder for the chick still in its shell to get out? i've had good success rates in terms of the % of eggs that hatch, but when there's quite a few chicks fully pipped they can knock the ones still in the shell all over the place. i know that this doesn't happen during natural incubation under a broodie. any thoughts?

 

[gimmie birdies]

If they are so active they knock the other eggs about I remove them but only if there is more than one then they won't be lonely. Thing is with chicks that can toss the other eggs around when the wet chick starts to hatch they may peck it.

here is one group I had. the chicks outside the cage had hatched earlier. the chicks in the cage hatched but wanted to be with the older chicks. I kept them separate for a while.
this is everyone together. the ones from the cage are the 2 chicks to the back on the quilt. Yes I gave my babies quilts they kept them suprisingly clean mostly slept on them and would hop off to poo- this quilt was in there for about 2 hrs. notice poo on the paper not on the quilt.