# Help...



## Nsfarms4 (Mar 12, 2014)

I am new to incubating and hatching. When do I open the incubator and get the chicks that have hatched out? 


NS Farms 
Greenville, Illinois


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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

after most of chicks drys and fluffs. They can survive up to 3 days in the incubator if you have late bloomers you are worried about. If at all possible, do not help and do not open. Helping can lead to bad days.

Incubation guide


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## nickysanford (Feb 3, 2014)

I have a chick that has been trying to get out since 7 this morning and has only made a small hole. Should i help?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Nope. It can take 24 hrs for a peep to hatch. They still have some processes their bodies go through and helping too soon can cause you to lose the chick. When it knows its in trouble it will begin crying very loudly and with detectable fear in its voice. 

I remove chicks once I have at least two hatched and they are dry. The dry part is important so try not to remove it until then. 

You can help. That business about weak chicks is an old wife's tale. Artificial incubation is convenient when you don't have hens to do the hatching for you but it also has pitfalls if all is not exactly right. I've helped many in the hundreds I've hatched and none were weak and all went on to maturity. It just takes patience and thinking it through for the right time.


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## nickysanford (Feb 3, 2014)

I can see it moving through the hole it looks like it is eating some of the thin mebrane


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Its not, its tearing the membrane. Then it will work on the breaking the shell. 

I've had one, just one, that got turned in the shell away from its original pip hole. It got stuck and started screaming for help. Got it out and it was fine.


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## nj2wv (Aug 27, 2013)

The only problem I have had with leaving chickens in the brooder with 
Unhatched eggs is that the hatched ones will lay on top and smother the pip hole or turn the pipped egg over and smother the chick or the hatched chick would peck the pip hole of another egg. I move them to a brooder once the start being very mobile. It saves the other eggs. 


Sent from my iPhone using Chicken Forum


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## nickysanford (Feb 3, 2014)

That one finally came out. I noticed it has turned one upsidedown like u said. Should i turn it over


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Huh, never thought about that. A chick needs to be able to turn within the egg to hatch. Having the pip hole pointed down could make it harder to continue that turn.


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## Nsfarms4 (Mar 12, 2014)

I'm still waiting for chicks...... Nothing yet.


NS Farms 
Greenville, Illinois


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You never said when they were due to hatch. Has hatch date come and gone?


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## nickysanford (Feb 3, 2014)

The due date was 16. Ive had 7 to hatch out of 14. The last 2 that pipped hatched today i dont think anymore will hatch


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Not you Nick, NS Farms is the original OP. I didn't realize until they said no chicks that two different people were hatching.

Not a bad hatch, especially if its your first and/or the eggs were shipped. BTW, it should not have been so staggered unless you added eggs after the originals. That sounds like a temp problem.


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## nickysanford (Feb 3, 2014)

I think i didnt have the trmp high enough. It was my first


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

What did your thermo say? The biggest cause of poor or no hatches is the wrong measuring instruments. This is one place where the investment cost wise pays off.


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## nickysanford (Feb 3, 2014)

I kept it on 100


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Still air or forced? For forced that is 1/2 degree high. For still its 1 degree low. What type of incubator?


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## nickysanford (Feb 3, 2014)

Still air. Hovabator


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

So, it was one degree low. When you have a still air it is also recommended that the eggs be rotated to different areas of the incubator to try to keep all eggs on the same schedule. In other words, move those in the center to the outside edges and put those from the outside edges in the center.


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## nickysanford (Feb 3, 2014)

Ok thanks. I didnt know that


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That's what makes these boards so helpful, someone out there knows something that someone else doesn't. 

I have been surprised more than once at something new that I never knew about and I've been doing this chicken thing for a while.


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## Nsfarms4 (Mar 12, 2014)

Well I hit day 23 on Sunday and we pulled them all out and had 1 almost chick not sure what went wrong. We are trying again with a fresh batch of eggs due to hatch in three weeks. 


NS Farms 
Greenville, Illinois


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Nsfarms4 said:


> Well I hit day 23 on Sunday and we pulled them all out and had 1 almost chick not sure what went wrong. We are trying again with a fresh batch of eggs due to hatch in three weeks.
> 
> NS Farms
> Greenville, Illinois


We're going to need more info from you before we can give tips on what might have gone wrong.

First, are you sure the eggs were developing?

What kind of incubator?

What are you using to measure temp and humidity. These two things are even more important than the incubator itself.


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