What is the ideal humidity for hatching in an incubator?

[shellikirbey]

See?  Generally - those rules that came with a commercial bator WORK for the largest percentage of people, in the largest percentage of hatching situations.


That's why they're instructions with the incubator and written rules on websites and in books.  Because MOST people will have decent or good hatches IN THAT RANGE.


Then there are the people for whom the rules did NOT work.  Their bator, or their house, or their altitude or their microclimate demands a different set of "house rules."  And you only develop those with practice and attention.


At my house the rules kill a hatch every time - I can get about 30% to hatch if I follow the rules like religion which is flat icky.


Now I dry hatch and here it works.  I rarely worry about humidity at all.


The bad news is you don't live in someone else's house, microclimate, altitude and you don't have their incubator.


So you get to follow the rules until you find out what works and what doesn't.  You tweak in small steps until you get what you want.  Clean, easy hatches of most or all the eggs that developed.


Hatching is NOT a science - it's part art and part nature, part miracle.  Or they'd call it Chickening.  Like fishing is NOT catching.


You don't get to count your chickens until they're hatched, dry, standing, walking and eating and drinking.

This happened to a relative of mine, also. It blew up all in his face. /img/smilies/sickbyc.gif

I had one that cracked open in the incubator and the whole house smelled horrible until I aired it out a bit. I hope I never have one to blow up on me, but I guess it could happen. Thanks for the warning.

omg that is the awefulest smell in the world..I got sick to my stomach when one of my quail eggs was rotten..I couldn't eat a egg for awhile..

 

[Lilygfarms]

Wanda, how did your high humidity hatch turn out/ My first tim and with a China made incubator, It gave 30 percent with no water and 70 percent with water. I am at one week t 70 and hope I don't loose everything. Thanks for any responses. Mike

 

[Frank The Tank]

Ok im reading all this and i have been running just about 65% humidity im into my second hatch . Would it hurt anything do just not at water again until i get it down to 45-50% and keep it there ? Im a week in ?

 

[Autumnfae611]

I would let it drop, balance itself out. My last hatch I did at my work and my staff had let it get up to 65% on my day off not knowing, the next day I let it drop down to around 40% for the day and then brought it back up to 50% when I left. Had a 98% hatch

 

[Lilygfarms]

Thanks
Mike

 

[PD-Riverman]

i have been running just about 65% humidity im into my second hatch . Would it hurt anything do just not at water again until i get it down to 45-50% and keep it there ? Im a week in ?

I personally feel 65% is way to high for the first 18 days, I would drop that to 30 to 40% then go back up for the hatch. Good Luck

 

[terusons]

how did you get the humidity level to rise?

 

[terusons]

how do you get the humidity increase for the last 3 days? I have both plugs in and temp is at 100.0 and humidity at 39%. All 6 wells have water....I am more nervous with the new incubator the little giant 9300 with auto egg turner....than every year that i did eggs with an old 4-h incubator. thanks for all you answers.

 

[terusons]

i just started the eggs today

 

[shellikirbey]

I put a SM dish with a sponge sitting in it wet and it raised good..might take a bit to raise and sometimes it does pretty quick