Hello Question

I have a little giant still air incubator brand new. I had it up and running for 2 days prior setting eggs. The temperature stays steady 99.5 and the humidity stay steady 40 - 50%. Today is day 17. I have Courtnix 28 of them.

I noticed on the 14th day a few of them were wobbling around. But then they stopped completely. I have not heard any peeps are chirps from inside the eggs and no egg is pipping.

Actually I see no movement for the past few days so I decided to do a float test this morning.

I noticed 22 of the 28 eggs are wobbling. So the 6 that didn't wobble I put in a separate area in the incubator. I also mark them with a blue marker.

My question is. Now that I know 22 of 28 are alive still. How do I bring my humidity above 50% ? I tried the sponge I filled all the water reservoirs at the bottom of the incubator but even put a glass jar with the water in the incubator and still doesn't rise above a steady 45 - 50%. It will spike to 75 - 80% but only for a few minutes and then returns between 40 and 50%.

My son has a red tail boa and we keep the humidity there about 80%. And all of this is a water bowl in his tank. That 80% always has his enclosure water beaded.

So for the life of me I cannot bring the Styrofoam container up above 45 50% steady humidity.

What am I doing wrong ? I'm surprised 22 of the 28 eggs are alive even. I bought them on ebay and they were shipped from Texas I live in Pennsylvania. This is my first time hatching anything .. it appears they are doing fine but I don't want to screw it up before they hatch now that I know most are still alive.

Thank you in advance.

Here is my float test this morning. Sorry I don't know how to post link directly from my android.

The only thing a float test can accurately tell you is how fresh the eggs are. It is not an accurate method for determining signs of life.

I'm new to all this hatching stuff. But, all 22 of the wobbling floaters hatched for me. #22 just a few moments ago. The 6 that didn't wobble in the water didn't hatch. Yet. Anyhow.

They are so darling and tiny !!!

I hatched out 4 white quail today,one had crooked toes and backwards legs.I only have 2 eggs left in that incubator.I have about 25 in the other.Ive done the water test to find bad eggs after 10 days.They say not to use a marker,only a pencil,i used a marker till I read that.Miller says my humity gage is only accurate from 70% to 80%.Ive kept mine in the 50,s or low 60,s since I usually have about 5 different weeks in incubator.Usually all hatch but one or two.I read to get the water to 99degrees for float test.Make sure you have a separate thermometer.I have 2 little giants,the one that comes with incubator will never be right,ive changed my 3 times.I got my thermometer from miller,qhf.I can fill mine all the wat up and only have about 50%.It hasn't seemed to matter,i add more water last 3 days.BY the way,i cant spell or see.

They are sooo darn tiny and cute !!!

Congratulations!!! They sure are cute. Good hatch rate too. Well done.

And then there's that one !!! lol Sooo darling !!!

MKirst said:

I'm new to all this hatching stuff. But, all 22 of the wobbling floaters hatched for me. #22 just a few moments ago. The 6 that didn't wobble in the water didn't hatch. Yet. Anyhow.

They are so darling and tiny !!!

Click to expand...

This is your experience with just a few eggs. Float tests are for determining freshness they cannot accurately detect signs of life. If the egg wobbles and you see it great, they live embryos will not always wobble and you will not always see it.

18 days old. They grow sooo fast. Today was nice outside so I left them out for the day. I never seen anything like these birds. They fly straight up in the air as a group then everywhere as a group. Like helicopters !!! Amazing. That had a blast !! They even came to the back door when the sun went down. I love them. Who would have thought !!!