Still-air Incubator, Is It Enough Air?

[Oddball Flock]

This is my first time incubating eggs. Today is hatch day. I have 7 chicken eggs and 3 have already pipped. I have a homemade incubator. It's made out of a styrofoam cooler with the light bulb in the lid. I have an old picture frame with window screen attached to it as the bottom with a bowl of water under the screen. I also have a viewing window on the front side of the cooler made from the glass of the frame and it's taped with gorilla tape. I made 6 holes on the sides; 2 on the left, 2 on the right, and 2 on top. My humidity wasn't bumping up with all 6 open so i have 2 covered with tape, one on the left and one on the top. It is a still-air incubator.
I'm wondering if there is enough air in there so that when they do hatch they won't suffocate. I would be devastated if something like that happened. They're chirping away in there so I'm thinking that's a good sign. If needed i can open the taped holes but then I'd have to find a way to keep the humidity stable. I already have 3 bowls in there. There's the one under the screen and 2 on top with one having a soaked sponge in it. The one under and the one with the sponge are the same size. They're about 4 inches in diameter. The other one is about 2in in diameter. The sponge is a regular dish washing sponge. I keep my humidity between 65 and 70% and my temperature stays between 99°F and 102°F.
Any and all advice is appreciated, thank you

 

[BullChick]

Hi! Happy hatch day!
In general, I wouldn't worry about the few holes you have covered. While the chicks do need plenty of air, it sounds like there are enough holes to accomplish that.
BUT! You need to understand humidity better. Humidity is accomplished by surface area, not volume. A two inch dish isn't providing much humidity. A paper towel hanging out the side will raise the humidity quite well.
When you say dish sponge, I have only one concern. Has it been used for dishes? Bacteria in the sponge (no matter used or not) is deadly for the chicks.
As for temperature, you can better stabilize it (though the temperatures you are experiencing are a good range, consistency is best. Not to mention less nerve wracking!) by adding heat sinks. That means add more eggs (chicken math!!) or add something like sterilized rocks or closed containers of water. Like some baby food jars.

I am very proud of you for making your own incubator!

 

[Oddball Flock]

Hi! Happy hatch day!
In general, I wouldn't worry about the few holes you have covered. While the chicks do need plenty of air, it sounds like there are enough holes to accomplish that.
BUT! You need to understand humidity better. Humidity is accomplished by surface area, not volume. A two inch dish isn't providing much humidity. A paper towel hanging out the side will raise the humidity quite well.
When you say dish sponge, I have only one concern. Has it been used for dishes? Bacteria in the sponge (no matter used or not) is deadly for the chicks.
As for temperature, you can better stabilize it (though the temperatures you are experiencing are a good range, consistency is best. Not to mention less nerve wracking!) by adding heat sinks. That means add more eggs (chicken math!!) or add something like sterilized rocks or closed containers of water. Like some baby food jars.

I am very proud of you for making your own incubator!

Lol oh heavens no! It's not a used sponge lol it was a brand new one.
I know i need surface area for humidity, those r the largest dishes i have that wouldn't be so tall. I've read about using a damp towel and such but i didnt want to have to constantly open the incubator to make sure it hadn't dried up. Also they're 4 inches in diameter and about 2 inches in diameter not depth. I added the smaller one because my humidity was at about 63% going into lockdown and I felt I had to give it a bit of a boost.
Thank you for the concerns and words of wisdom. One has already fully hatched!!

 

[BullChick]

How is it going?

 

[BullChick]

Go to Educational Incubating and Hatching for more help. Even to show pictures!

 

[Oddball Flock]

How is it going?

5 out of 7 have hatched. We're very eggcited!! I was even happy that we had 3 but 2 more were still making progress. I don't think the other 2 are going to hatch. When i candled before lockdown, one looked like it was way behind development. The other one looked fine though but I knew they all wouldn't hatch from the beginning so I'm okay with 5 out of 7. They are all very healthy, a little weak from hatching but I understand they would be. The last one made his way out about an hour ago i took tons of pictures. I will try to post them when i get a chance. Thank you for asking!!

 

[BullChick]

e

 

[Oddball Flock]

I finally have a chance to post pictures of my babies. Here we go...




George/Georgia



The Hulk





Polka Dottie



Shy Guy/Girl

 

[BullChick]