Eggs haven't lost enough weight should I still increase humidity for lockdown?

[ellij97]

I have 16 chicken eggs in my incubator, the first 5 were put in on the 4th of July, then 5 in on the 5th and 6 in on the 6th. I have been weighing the 6 eggs put in on the 6th today is day 16 for them and they have only lost 8% of their original weight. The eggs I put in on the 4th are due to be put into lock down today I don't know wether I should increase the humidity or not, can someone please help? It's a forced air incubator been kept at 37.5 degrees and 40% humidity

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I'd pull out all water now and go dry for another day to day and half. It's a little late to get to optimal moisture loss but ya got to work with where your at now. Knowing your doing a staggered hatch incubating dry prior to now would have been a better option. But as a whole as long as there is a fair sized air cell the chicks wont drown. You may not even see any loss due to lack of optimal moisture loss. Again, I'd take out all water and wait to raise humidity late day 19 of first set eggs.

Yes you do need to up humidity for hatch. If you don''t you'll end up with stuck in shell chicks. If you only up it to 60% RH it works but the problem there is if many are hatching at once the humidity drives way up if your not there to release some moisture by opening the lid. If the album is allowed to get over 70% Rh then dry below that mark then it becomes like glue. This is how I always incubated, 60-65% for hatch and let out moisture to keep it down when chicks pipped and zipped. That's all well and good until you awake in the morning to find most of the birds piped and zipped overnight and half of them are now stuck in the shell. So anymore I hatch over 70% RH and don't care how high humidity gets as when it drys back it will still be over 70% RH keeping the album lubed and not glue.

I should add- if eggs are rocking up the humidity. Until you have mastery of your equipment there is now way of knowing exact hatching time or day. That said you could be incubating a tad high temp so they'd hatch earlier than day 21. If eggs are rocking up humidity regardless of what day it is.

 

[ellij97]

I have put them into lock down and left it dry, I candled an egg that's at day 18 and took a picture of the size of the air sac