Can I compensate for high humidity prior to lockdown?

[ZZZ]

Hello all,
This is my first post on BYC. I have been reading, and learning so much, for a while now. SO grateful for this site!! I'm quite new to chicken keeping. We just have 6 layers, which we've had for a couple months. It's ridiculous how fun they are, and what joy they (and their eggs) bring us!! Now I'm attempting my first incubator hatch... I had been on the fence about trying for a while, and decided to go for it now that I have the kids home to learn and enjoy the process with me as we are homeschooling due to CoVid-19! I have an $80 Trio Cottage incubator. I bought a dozen eggs from a local breeder -- Copper Marans, Cream Legbars, Oliver Eggers, and Super Blues. (She gave me three extra eggs I couldn't fit into my little incubator, so I whipped together a DIY styrofoam "cooler-bator" and gave it to my mother-in-law to watch over and keep her busy as she isolates at home. I think she has her temp and humidity regulated better than I do! Ha!) My little incubator doesn't have a hygrometer; just the channeled tray with instructions to "fill one channel for X many days, fill 3 channels for X many days" etc. So I bought a hygrometer and despite only having one channel half full of water, the humidity is mostly hovering in the 60+ % range. I guess our home is more humid than I would have imagined, living in the high desert of Southern Idaho!? I plan to let the tray completely dry out tonight, and see what humidity level the incubator is at in the morning. What I'm wondering is, if I can figure out a way to significantly decrease the humidity at some point before lockdown, would that work to sort of "even out" the earlier high humidity? We're on day 5. Is it already too late? I did weigh the eggs before they went in, so I was thinking I could weigh them a few days before lock down and attempt a drastic humidity decrease if necessary... I'd be very thankful for any and all thoughts!

 

[cavemanrich]

Go to this thread, and read what happened when the humidity was at 60%. It was not the end of the world,,,,,,, actually a successful hatch.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/incubating-day-17.1354793/ In that thread there is also an informative link to how much humidity is recommended.
I personally think that if you just reduced the amount of water slightly now, and increase at Lockdown, ALL WOULD GO WELL.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and

 

[ZZZ]

Thanks very much for the encouragement and warm welcome! If I may state my question another way, I'm wondering if it's okay if the humidity varies wildly for the first 18 days as long as the average humidity is 50-55%? Or is the constancy of the humidity more important? For example, which of the following scenarios would be preferable...

1) Humidity bounces around from 25% to 65% and everything in-between (for the first 18 days), but the average works out to 52.5%.
2) Humidity is unwavering at 62.5% for the first 18 days.

Thanks bunches for your help!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

2) Humidity is unwavering at 62.5% for the first 18 days.

When I bred Marans... I used dry incubation and worked great...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...h-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method.47694/
It isn't too late... day 5 is still early and your temp is more key than the humidity. If you can, I would remove the ALL water from the bator and see where your humidity stays. Darker eggs have more pigment that already decreases gas exchange.

If humidity is too high for the first 18 days... it does not allow for air cell evaporation and growth... which would limit the size of the chick to allow it to turn into place for hatching. High humidity.. *could* lead to malposition chicks... or if they were able to turn for pipping they MIGHT drown from too much moisture.

Drastic decreases in humidity at the end are not a wise choice.

Here is an excellent hatching resource...
Incubation guide

Please note... hygrometers should be calibrated... and if you haven't got a calibrated thermometer... I would suggest getting one and NOT relying on any built into the unit as they are notoriously off. But, I looked it up and that's a pretty cool bator at a fantastic price.

So great, that you have come up with a wonderful educational experience to share with the kiddos!

Happy hatching!

 

[ZZZ]

When I bred Marans... I used dry incubation and worked great...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...h-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method.47694/
It isn't too late... day 5 is still early and your temp is more key than the humidity. If you can, I would remove the ALL water from the bator and see where your humidity stays. Darker eggs have more pigment that already decreases gas exchange.

If humidity is too high for the first 18 days... it does not allow for air cell evaporation and growth... which would limit the size of the chick to allow it to turn into place for hatching. High humidity.. *could* lead to malposition chicks... or if they were able to turn for pipping they MIGHT drown from too much moisture.

Drastic decreases in humidity at the end are not a wise choice.

Here is an excellent hatching resource...
Incubation guide

Please note... hygrometers should be calibrated... and if you haven't got a calibrated thermometer... I would suggest getting one and NOT relying on any built into the unit as they are notoriously off. But, I looked it up and that's a pretty cool bator at a fantastic price.

So great, that you have come up with a wonderful educational experience to share with the kiddos!

Happy hatching!

Thank you SO much!! This was immensely helpful, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading your story. I will be sure to refer back to all this as I go along!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Thank you SO much!! This was immensely helpful, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading your story. I will be sure to refer back to all this as I go along!

Ah, I was wondering what story I told... That dry incubation story is actually someone else's.. that I just happened across and tried, very successfully (and also enjoyed reading).. BYC'ers are some of the greatest informational authors. Our article section is highly informative (and some not so much and even misinformed ALWAYS use your own judgement), but worth visiting when you have time.

Another BYC thread (also not mine) where I found MOST of my relative information with regards to hatching, even though some links no longer work and it's a little busy... it's also laid out well enough to scroll through and glean what you are really looking for fairly quickly...
Hatching Eggs 101

When I found something I really like to reference like that incubation guide... I discovered bookmarks are hugely helpful for finding them again.

 

[ZZZ]

Ah, I was wondering what story I told... That dry incubation story is actually someone else's.. that I just happened across and tried, very successfully (and also enjoyed reading).. BYC'ers are some of the greatest informational authors. Our article section is highly informative (and some not so much and even misinformed ALWAYS use your own judgement), but worth visiting when you have time.

Another BYC thread (also not mine) where I found MOST of my relative information with regards to hatching, even though some links no longer work and it's a little busy... it's also laid out well enough to scroll through and glean what you are really looking for fairly quickly...
Hatching Eggs 101

When I found something I really like to reference like that incubation guide... I discovered bookmarks are hugely helpful for finding them again.

Oh, I gotcha! Ha! Thanks SO much again!! I will look up all of these resources. Wonderful!

 

[ZZZ]

@cavemanrich @EggSighted4Life Thank you both very much again for the wonderful help with my first hatch!! We ended up having a power outage during lockdown, but 7 out of 11 fertile eggs still hatched, so I'm happy with that! The kids and I took a few photos with the babies today.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

The kids and I took a few photos with the babies today.

Congrats to your family on your first hatched feather babies!

Wow, you have really got a knack for setting up photos! I hope you will enter some for the coming years calendar photo contest if there is one.

Seriously though, them babies look great! They're beautiful!

Thank you for sharing... what a great pick me up.

 

[ZZZ]

Congrats to your family on your first hatched feather babies!

Wow, you have really got a knack for setting up photos! I hope you will enter some for the coming years calendar photo contest if there is one.

Seriously though, them babies look great! They're beautiful!

Thank you for sharing... what a great pick me up.

Thanks bunches!!