The normal incubation time for chicks is 21 days. However, chicks sometimes do not follow the traditional incubation pattern and may experience delayed, sluggish or difficult hatching. In these cases, waiting for all chicks to hatch and grow feathers is impractical and can jeopardize the health of the hatched chicks.
In the late stages of incubation, chicks do not show any signs of hatching until 4 to 21 days after they have been in the incubator for 3 days. If all the eggs take longer than 36 hours to hatch, then your incubation will be difficult. Many embryos fail to hatch even if they are fully developed or have broken their shells.
During the dragging incubation process, consider taking turns removing the chicks from the incubator. Leaving early-hatched chicks in the incubator for more than 48 hours may leave them dehydrated or malnourished. Note that you only need to remove the chick's feathers when they are completely fluffy. Feathering is another name for the "critical rest period" required after the chick breaks.
Immediately after hatching, the hatching chicks go through a period of high activity, followed by a long rest period. This critical break is crucial and does not imply any danger. By the next day, they should be less humid and look more fluffy. Once they are completely dry, you can transfer them to the chick brooder.
Also, avoid opening the incubator when the eggs are hemming or unzipping. Opening the incubator to remove fluffy chicks may cause a sudden drop in temperature and humidity. A prolonged drop in humidity can dry out the shell membrane and trap the unhatched chicks inside the shell. Therefore, it is crucial to restore the environmental conditions to the initial humidity and temperature as soon as possible.
However, with a fully automated incubator such as the Be You incubator, it is very simple to restore or maintain the incubator's environmental conditions, such as humidity and temperature. Immediately after shutting down, the incubator automatically returns to its environmental state so that other eggs can hatch normally and safely.