advice needed please

[kari04]

Hi,I'm new to the world of hatching, I've got my first 12 silkie eggs in my incubator with 12 more ready to go in within 24 hours of each other,incubator says keep it to 55% humidity which is where I have managed to keep it at over the last 24 hours but I've done a little reading and worrying that the humidity is too high for such small eggs,can anyone advise if the humidity is ok or any advice on how to reduce the humidity without intruding too much,thanks

 

[mortie]

There are a lot of opinions about humidity during incubation. There are several threads about it on here, and if you use the search box at the top of the page, that should take you right to several of them.

In the meantime, I'll give you my personal opinion. 55% is too high for incubation. I personally keep it about 35% or even a little lower. What you do about it depends on where you live and what the ambient humidity is there. Mine's 35% so I just let my bator run dry. If your ambient humidity is in that general range I would just let it run dry either by removing the water or waiting for it to run out. Either way would be fine, the air cells would have plenty of time to get to the proper size. If your humidity is lower than you want the incubator then it depends on what kind of bator you have. In something like a LG, you can control it a bit by only filling say one channel and seeing where that gets you...Basically the less surface area you have with your water the less it will raise the humidity.

 

[fanniefarmer]

Good morning. I have a question for general consideration. I'm wanting to know what you think. Is hatching egg and chick selling a year round thing or does it usually dry up after spring? I'm hoping my chickens will pay their own way as far as feed and then also supplement at least the light bill year round. Is that expecting too much?

 

[mortie]

I think that depends a little on your location and what the weather is like where you live. I personally wouldn't want to brood chicks in the fall or winter...I much prefer it in the spring that way it's warm and the chicks start laying before winter.

 

[kari04]

Thank you for your reply,would you recommend opening it up and taking some water out even after 24 hrs,is that safe to do? Or will the fluctuation effect the eggs?

 

[mortie]

I would either open it up and remove the water or just let it run dry. I open my bator at least once a day and it hasn't hurt my hatches.

 

[mortie]

Except on lockdown. I don't open after day 18

there is research that suggests that having a brief cooldown period every day. Some incubators even have that programmed into them. Frankly I have found that it hurts nothing when I am hatching to open it up for a couple of minutes to spot candle a couple of eggs and make sure everything is going well.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

There are a lot of opinions about humidity during incubation. There are several threads about it on here, and if you use the search box at the top of the page, that should take you right to several of them.

In the meantime, I'll give you my personal opinion. 55% is too high for incubation. I personally keep it about 35% or even a little lower. What you do about it depends on where you live and what the ambient humidity is there. Mine's 35% so I just let my bator run dry. If your ambient humidity is in that general range I would just let it run dry either by removing the water or waiting for it to run out. Either way would be fine, the air cells would have plenty of time to get to the proper size. If your humidity is lower than you want the incubator then it depends on what kind of bator you have. In something like a LG, you can control it a bit by only filling say one channel and seeing where that gets you...Basically the less surface area you have with your water the less it will raise the humidity.

x's 2 I try to go for 30-40% (Preferrably on the 30 side. If I can do this dry I will run dry. If not I will add a damp sponge.

If you want a better understanding of humidity this may help you: (It's the method I use for hatching chickens and a personal rant from my new blog.) http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

 

[kari04]

Thank you,I'm very new to incubation. (we only have 4 hens currently),I've taken some water out and it's down to 52% now,I've also added my next 12 while I had it open,I will let it run dry now and see what happens,who knew incubation could be so stressful lol

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thank you,I'm very new to incubation. (we only have 4 hens currently),I've taken some water out and it's down to 52% now,I've also added my next 12 while I had it open,I will let it run dry now and see what happens,who knew incubation could be so stressful lol

Oh wait until they hatch...you wnat to talk about stress....lol