Eggs are Pipping a day early....

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smudger28

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Hi guys

one of my Rhode Island Reds eggs is beginning to hatch from 11 viable! They are supposed to be hatching tomorrow. I have been running the incubator dry until now. I have added water and the humidity is 70%. I have removed two vents to try and bring the humidity down to about 60%.

The children are excited to say the least...
 
If they're pipping, 70% is OK, no need to reduce it. Just make sure they get enough humidity to keep those shells moist and soft. And get the sandwiches and drinks ready, so you can all settle down for the births!
 
60% is about right for the Corti but it's not critical - 70 is as high as you want it though. Humidity is adjusted by how much water you put in the reservoir which is cup shaped. The higher the level, the higher the surface area and therefore the higher the humidity. You can adjust with the vents as you've done.
Now's the time for patience as the chipped one will probably not hatch till tomorrow. The later ones seem to catch up.
 
Hi Chuck

Thanks for getting back! The humidity is @ 65% now and settled down quite nicely. All this advice you have given me regarding the Corti and I'm about to buy an R-com 20 :)

Two eggs have pipped now and I'm sure I can hear them chirping away above the noisy fan....

I will post pics and let you all know how it went!

Thanks Chuck and Marigold!!
 
smudger28 said:
Do I need towels :-)
Click to expand...

Do you mean do you need something under the hatching eggs for the chicks feet to grip on, not just the slippery surface of the incubator base? Yes, you definitely do, or they're at risk from spraddled leg in their early hours before their leg muscles get strong enough to hold them upright.
 
I think he means towels, forceps etc. Marigold !

No photos necessary - we've seen enough pictures of chicks we've delivered.

From the Midwifery Team, Poultrykeepr. :lol:
 
Well, I never get tired of seeing pics of newborns, whether chicks or humans or puppies or whatever. Hope it's going well overnight in the Maternity Ward!
 
Hi guys one chick born about 23:00 last night. We have another 3 pipped eggs this morning. The egg that pipped early yesterday afternoon has not advanced any further. Do I leave it alone? So that leaves 7 eggs yet to pip. Funnily enough all the eggs that have pipped are from the same batch.
 
Hi Guys

We have 4 chicks now and another on the way. One of the chicks has nearly been in there for 24 hours and it's getting a bit crowded in there now as I have dived the incy into 3 sections to separate my 3 different sets of eggs. Would it be ok to move the 4 chicks to the brooder to allow room for the others? The lid would only be off the incy for a few seconds whilst whip the chicks out.

Cheers

Paul
 
Shouldn't be too crowded but if you're confident about the brooder you can. I like mine to stay in the incubator for 24 - 48 hours by which time they are ready for drink and a little crumb.
 
Hi Guys

Just a quick update:

We left them in the incubator overnight and now there are 8 chicks out of 11 which is really pleasing. Thanks Chuck for your Corti advice :-)08

I'm going to move them into the brooder this morning.

Also have another 24 eggs on the way and I didn't get the R-com so they will probably go in the Corti again. I cannot argue with the results.

Paul
 
8/11 is a good result.

Another advantage of the Corti design is that there is scope to split it into sections as you've done and I did (into four) which makes chick identification easy in a mixed batch. Pleased to have been able to help with this make of incubator but more stressful than a penalty shoot out when it's not your own eggs !

Photos to follow ?
 
Ok guys the last fellow is out. That's 8 in total. Will leave him/her in the incubator until it dry's out.

I have taken out the newspaper and replaced with a muslin cloth as they were slipping all over the place :-)

Thanks to everybody's help on the forum for our first successful hatch! Big thanks to Chuck's advice regarding the Corti! :-)08



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Forgot how nice Rhode chicks look with that rich colour.
 
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