advice needed please

[fanniefarmer]

There is a page or something on this site called Hatching Eggs 101. I learned everything I ever wanted or needed to know about it from that post. You can do a search on this site or type "hatching eggs 101" into Google and it should come right up. It explains how the humidity level is just a tool for making sure the egg sac grows sufficiently so that the baby chick will have air to breathe when it gets ready to hatch and not drown. It's not an absolute. Don't let incubating be stressful. theres plenty of help here to make you successful. Check out Hatching Eggs 101. You'll become an expert in no time!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

There is a page or something on this site called Hatching Eggs 101. I learned everything I ever wanted or needed to know about it from that post. You can do a search on this site or type "hatching eggs 101" into Google and it should come right up. It explains how the humidity level is just a tool for making sure the egg sac grows sufficiently so that the baby chick will have air to breathe when it gets ready to hatch and not drown. It's not an absolute. Don't let incubating be stressful. theres plenty of help here to make you successful. Check out Hatching Eggs 101. You'll become an expert in no time!

That is an excellent article. One I always recommend along with the- Step by Step guide to assisted hatching.

 

[fanniefarmer]

Hey AmyLynn2374. Where is that article? I gotta check it out since you recommend it. Thanks!

 

[lazy gardener]

It should be required reading before anyone is allowed to plug in an incubator. It would prevent so many lost hatches.

 

[mortie]

Are you doing a staggered hatch? Do you have another incubator you're using as a hatcher? If not, I would personally advise against a staggered hatch at this point. It's more difficult to manage than if the chicks all hatched at the same time.

 

[kari04]

Will it matter that they are less than 24 hours between them? I've emptied the majority of the water and it's gone back up to 54% humidity now

 

[mortie]

There may be as much as 2 days between the first one hatching and the last one, but that's not as bad as having a week between them. You could leave them if you want to, it might just add to the stress

The actual amount of the water doesn't matter as much as the surface area. If you have a water container in there (or a well, or channel, or whatever) it will impart the same amount of moisture whether it's completely full or almost empty. I would remove all of the water from it and let it run completely dry and see where that gets you. To see the effect, you have to wait until the water is all gone and it's bone dry, otherwise it will still be imparting moisture to the air.

What is the ambient humidity where you are? My bator is in my basement and my humidity is 35% down there. I run my bator completely dry because the room air is right where I would want it. Unless it's super dry where you are, you probably don't need any water at all.

 

[kari04]

I'm running it on my kitchen work top which is probably contributing to it remaining high,my kitchen is quite warm

 

[fanniefarmer]

Hey Kari04. Heres the guideline for whether you need to raise or lower your humidity. The more eggs you add the more differences there will be in air sac growth to keep up with. Then when it comes time to raise the humidity for the ones that have been in the incubator 18 days then that will slow down the air sac growth for the others. Here's a picture guideline for what to look for when you candle them. And you do need to candle them or you won't know.

 

[kari04]

I'm just concerned that opening them up and messing about with the humidity is going to damage the eggs,or maybe keeping the humidity at 55% won't be too detrimental to the ones 24 hours behind as it's keeping it consistently on the higher side so it won't be too much of a increase when day 18 comes for the first ones so the second ones will adjust a bit early maybe?