Incubation - Raising Poultry - page 283

has worked for them. If you take good notes during the hatches, you'll eventually be
able to figure out the tricks for your incubator and your environment.
Remember that the air in the room where the incubator is located has a huge im-
pact on the humidity in the incubator. Simple things such as whether the incubator is
located in a damp basement or in a dry, air-conditioned room can make a huge differ-
ence. Using a fan adds another level of complexity.
Humidity control is the central concern at the end of the hatching process when the
birds are trying to pip, or peck their way out. Chicken pipping begins on day 18; duck
pipping, day 25; goose pipping, day 27; turkey and guinea pipping, day 24 or 25.
The day that the eggs are transferred to the hatching compartment, or if in the same
incubator, the day you stop the turning, is the day humidity becomes increasingly im-
portant. Each species is a bit different at this point. Chickens are the most forgiving of
errors here; geese and turkeys the least forgiving.
I transfer the eggs three to four days before the scheduled date of hatch. I hatch on
Tuesday, so I transfer eggs to the hatcher on Friday night.
Pipping
If everything is moving forward normally for chicks of all species, they'll start pipping
(pecking through the shell) on schedule and rapidly progress to the outside world within
the expected time period (see box page 271 ) . For chickens, this is typically 24 hours.
The place on the shell where the chick begins to pip out tells the breeder a number
of things. The pip hole should be started at the large end of the egg, where the air sac is
located.
A healthy hatchling comes out of the shell, dries rather quickly, and gets fluffy
within a few hours. A sickly bird often sticks to the shell or comes out sticky to the
touch, looking like it was rolled in jelly or syrup.
If the pipping is lower than the air sac located at the large end of the shell, then
the humidity has been too high during the incubation process and the bird will either die
on the way out, stick to the shell, or come out all sticky and have continuing troubles.
If pipping begins high in the air sac, it's an indication that the humidity was too
low during incubation. The chick will probably emerge early, be smaller than usual, and
appear somewhat emaciated when it hatches. These chicks often don't survive.
Ducks will vary some by breed as to the exact time they start to break through their
protective shells. Duck breeds known for high egg production are the earliest pippers.
Khaki Campbells, Harlequins, Cascades, and some varieties of the Runners, will usually