First time hatching....Have questions!

[cutipatooti]

This is my first time ever hatching eggs. I have some questions. First I have the brinsea 20 advanced. I set it up and it has been running for 3 days now and maintaining a temp of 99.5 but sometimes 99.4 or 99.6. Is that ok or should I try to lower it?

I'm really concerned about humidity. Right now it's reading 48% and that's with both channels filled. It was in the 30's before I filled the other channel. The 48% is with the vent almost all the way closed. Then I read you should start with humidity at 20 to 30% and weigh and track air cells. I got the brinsea so I wouldn't have to do much with the eggs. Is the tracking of the weight of the eggs necessary or is it overkill with the incubator I have?

Does the humidity go up just by adding the eggs? If so should I remove the water from one channels before I add the eggs. How do I increase humidity for hatching? I know it will increase on its own when they start to hatch, but should I do something before they start hatching?

My eggs arrived today and I have set them fat end up in egg cartons. I know I let them warm up for 12 to 24 hours. During this time do I tilt them or not? They shipped from Washington to NY so I don't really expect to much.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Rooster14250]

I'm not sure about shipped eggs, but when you put the eggs in the incubator, the humidity will have a spike. I would keep the humidity at 30-35% for the first 18 days,and then raise it to 60% by filling up the water channels. Watch out for the humidity spikes when they hatch though.

 

[BonRae67]

I would take some water out and lower the humidity. The humidity will go up a little when you put the eggs in. I would put your eggs in an egg carton fat end up and leave them for 24 hours before you set them in the incubator. Dont turn or anything while they are settling from shipping. When you go on lockdown at day 18 fill both water wells to raise the humidity. If it doesn't raise enough put wet sponges or papertowel to help raise it and maintain it through hatch. Hope this helps.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

This is my first time ever hatching eggs. I have some questions. First I have the brinsea 20 advanced. I set it up and it has been running for 3 days now and maintaining a temp of 99.5 but sometimes 99.4 or 99.6. Is that ok or should I try to lower it?

I'm really concerned about humidity. Right now it's reading 48% and that's with both channels filled. It was in the 30's before I filled the other channel. The 48% is with the vent almost all the way closed. Then I read you should start with humidity at 20 to 30% and weigh and track air cells. I got the brinsea so I wouldn't have to do much with the eggs. Is the tracking of the weight of the eggs necessary or is it overkill with the incubator I have?

Does the humidity go up just by adding the eggs? If so should I remove the water from one channels before I add the eggs. How do I increase humidity for hatching? I know it will increase on its own when they start to hatch, but should I do something before they start hatching?

My eggs arrived today and I have set them fat end up in egg cartons. I know I let them warm up for 12 to 24 hours. During this time do I tilt them or not? They shipped from Washington to NY so I don't really expect to much.

Thanks for the help!

Yes, the small temperature variances like that is perfectly fine and expected. (Mine are quite bigger as I use a LG styro bator.)
I agree with the starting with the lower humidity, (though I require that my bator holds at least 25% and I try to go with it around 30%) and I monitor my air cells to know if it's sufficient. I also keep my vents open during incubation unless I need to raise temp after openening then I will cover them till the temp gets back up to where I need it. There really is n need to weigh if you are monitoring the air cells uness you prefer to do both. Once you get your eggs in there your temp and humidity will fluctuate, give it a few hours to balance out before adjusting. Don't get too worried about humidity the first day or so. You have plenty of time to even that out and find what works for you.

At lockdown, fill your wells and like stated, if you need more humidity add a couple wet sponges. (I prefer my humidity at lockdown between 70-75%.)

As for turning of shipped eggs, I believe that it depends on rather you have detatched air cells.If they are detatched I believe the recommendation is to NOT turn. If your air cells are all fine then yes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you are that close with your temperatures you are doing better than a whole lot of people that usually get good hatches. I don’t know what thermometer you are using but I suggest you confirm it is actually reading right. Many thermometers have built-in errors just due to fabrication tolerances. Maybe use a medical thermometer that has been calibrated to make sure the highs are actually where you think they are.

Humidity is a pain because different humidities work for different people. There are a lot of different things that can affect what humidity is right for you. Even the commercial hatcheries that use incubators that hold 60,000 eggs each have to tune each incubator to get maximum results. Just moving one of those big incubators from one side of the room to another can throw it off a little. The good news is that there is a fairly wide band of humidity that works, both during incubation and during lockdown.

Some people do weigh the eggs or visually check the air cell to see how it is going and adjust the humidity accordingly. A lot of us don’t regardless of what incubator we use. You can certainly do that if you wish, but I suggest you decide on something and try it. Try to be consistent and open the unhatched eggs when incubation is over. From the results you get you can try different adjustments during the next incubation if you feel you need to. You probably received a warning with that incubator to not trust expensive eggs to it the first time you use it. That’s because there is sometimes some trial and error in using it, both with your incubation techniques and with settings on the incubator.

Short term humidity spikes or drops are pretty irrelevant. The purpose of getting the humidity right is to get the right amount of moisture to leave the eggs during the entire incubation period. It’s the average humidity over the entire incubation period that matters, not some instantaneous anomaly. If the humidity drops when you are candling the eggs, it doesn’t matter. If you spill some water and get something wet that normally isn’t you will probably get a humidity spike until that excess moisture dries off. It’s not a problem. Just give it some time and it will stabilize.

You control humidity by surface area of the water. If you want to drop the humidity, reduce surface area. If you remove water from a reservoir it will still be wet so you won’t get a drop until that moisture evaporates but it will eventually drop. You can cover part of a reservoir with foil maybe to reduce surface area. To increase humidity you can add water to dry reservoirs, put cups of water in there, or use paper towels, sponges, or wash clothes to wick water out of a reservoir to provide more surface area for the water to evaporate from.

Shipped eggs are a challenge for many different reasons. You often do not get really good hatch rates with shipped eggs but I have had 100% success with them. I’ve also had 25% success. Each incubation is different, whether from my own eggs, eggs I pick up locally, or shipped eggs. All you can do is try.

I wish you luck!

 

[cutipatooti]

Thanks for all the replies. I did empty one reservoir of water. I am letting the eggs sit without turning because the eggs are a darker blue and I can't tell if the air cells are loose. They don't appear to be anyway. I will try to keep an eye on the air cells when I candle them. I'm going to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks for all the replies. I did empty one reservoir of water. I am letting the eggs sit without turning because the eggs are a darker blue and I can't tell if the air cells are loose. They don't appear to be anyway. I will try to keep an eye on the air cells when I candle them. I'm going to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Good luck!!

 

[cutipatooti]

Just candled my eggs. It looks like only 2 of 22 are developing. I have 4 eggs of my own in their and all are developing. The eggs were pack well and none were broken. They came from Washington to NY so a long trip. Do I take the eggs that are not developing out?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Just candled my eggs. It looks like only 2 of 22 are developing. I have 4 eggs of my own in their and all are developing. The eggs were pack well and none were broken. They came from Washington to NY so a long trip. Do I take the eggs that are not developing out?

What day are you on? I don't remove my clears until day 10 just to be sure.

 

[cutipatooti]

Day 7