At what percent humidity should an incubator be?

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Just curious! I’m going to get an incubator to (hopefully) hatch out some serama babies!

 

[nuthatched]

Where do you live to take account the humidity? A lot of people do the dry hatch metheod, about 45% until lockdown, then about 65%.

 

[DarJones]

40 to 45 percent works best. It is most important to pay attention to the temperature and keep it carefully regulated at 99.5 F. Next most important - and often overlooked - is available fresh air. Plenty of failed hatches can be laid at the feet of not having enough but not too much air flow. Third is humidity. It can vary quite a bit and is very important to monitor carefully the last 3 days of the hatch. Eggs have to lose some water during incubation. Lose too much and they die. Don't lose enough and the hatch will be poor.

 

[PDXJULES]

Candling day 1, 7, 10 and 17 and adjusting position, turning and humidity based on air cell quality and size seem to be among consensus items I've read. I've read.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Where do you live to take account the humidity? A lot of people do the dry hatch metheod, about 45% until lockdown, then about 65%.

I live in Houston, TX
What’s the difference in dry hatching and regular hatching?

 

[nuthatched]

I live in Houston, TX
What’s the difference in dry hatching and regular hatching?

Some folks get better hatch rates with it, especially if they live in a dryer place where humidity is hard to get up.

 

[Mellowmalt]

dry incubating is having no water in the incubator initially, only relying on the eggs internal moisture and transpiration to maintain ~40%. From what I gather this works best for people hatching large numbers of eggs.

If you have a small incubator that only holds a few eggs, those eggs won't transpire much and running it completely dry runs the risk of them losing too much moisture.

It is wise to candle the eggs at day 7, mark the air cell with a pencil but only a pencil, then again at day 14 and at day 18. Between day 7 and 14 the air cell should roughly double in size and then double again by day 18. You can also weigh the eggs. They should lose 11-14% of their weight I believe so you weigh the eggs and work out what 86% of that weight would be. Then weigh the eggs throughout to make sure it is on track to reach that weight in the 3 weeks they will be incubating. That way you can adjust the humidity a bit higher or lower but with few eggs in a small incubator I would suggest aiming for 50% and then go higher or lower based on your observations.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Some folks get better hatch rates with it, especially if they live in a dryer place where humidity is hard to get up.

dry incubating is having no water in the incubator initially, only relying on the eggs internal moisture and transpiration to maintain ~40%. From what I gather this works best for people hatching large numbers of eggs.

If you have a small incubator that only holds a few eggs, those eggs won't transpire much and running it completely dry runs the risk of them losing too much moisture.

It is wise to candle the eggs at day 7, mark the air cell with a pencil but only a pencil, then again at day 14 and at day 18. Between day 7 and 14 the air cell should roughly double in size and then double again by day 18. You can also weigh the eggs. They should lose 11-14% of their weight I believe so you weigh the eggs and work out what 86% of that weight would be. Then weigh the eggs throughout to make sure it is on track to reach that weight in the 3 weeks they will be incubating. That way you can adjust the humidity a bit higher or lower but with few eggs in a small incubator I would suggest aiming for 50% and then go higher or lower based on your observations.

The incubator I was looking to get fits 24 eggs, shows temperature, shows humidity, and can candle the eggs. I only have two laying hens though- a serama and a gamefowl.

 

[nuthatched]

The incubator I was looking to get them fits 24 eggs, shows temperature, shows humidity, and can candle the eggs. They only have two laying hens though- a serama and a gamefowl.

make sure you calibrate the temperature and humidity, all in one bators (aka China bators) are known for discrepancies.

 

[EJn]

I live in Houston, TX
What’s the difference in dry hatching and regular hatching?

I'm about an hour south of you so it's not too hard to get humidity up lol. Hot and humid is something I'm sure you know about.
Set up your incubator and let it set for 24hrs. Then check your temp and humidity. It'll change a little when eggs are added so adjust as needed.
In mine without water, filled with eggs we get 38-41% humidity.