Can too much humidity be bad??

[Billyj]

I set a few eggs in my incubator, a forced air hovabator, on Monday. Since I know nothing about incubating, I filled the wells to capacity with b/c someone told me that I needed to. I only had a thermometer and know the temp was ok (holding stady at 100* ish. I went to Wally world and purchased a thermometer with humidity guage this afternoon. When I put it in, the humidity was at like 85-90%. I quickly removed as much water as I could from the wells. Since it has been 2 days at that high amount of humidity, am I fighting a loosing battle now? The humidity is slowly coming down, but is the damage done? Should I toss and try again, or keep them in there for a few more days and see what happens?

 

[Southernbelle]

I wouldn't toss them until after I'd candled them to see if they were developing or not. I'd just make sure the vents are open and let the humidity drop naturally.

 

[fishman65]

2 days this early on i would'nt worry. Keep humidity around 40% for the first 18 days and 60-70% for the last 3 days on lockdown. candle on day 10 to check how things are going. I think you will be alright. good Luck!

 

[chickenmeadow]

Since Monday does not seem like enough days to constitute tossing the eggs. There are still plenty of days for the egg to loose the xtra moisture that the high humidity collected. Candle your eggs 2 or 3 times during incubation, best to do when you happen to be turning the eggs (turn daily in odd #'s like 3x a day (if you have to be away at work on weekdays like I do) or 5x a day before your bedtime). Candle at 7 days (10 days instead if you're just starting out at trying incubation-it's more reliable for seeing "dark mass" in the middle, which is the chick). Then candle around 14 days to consider tossing any clear eggs, or leave iffy ones for next candling. Candle for the last time at 18 days, stop turning the eggs, raise the humidity & don't open the incubator again till they hatch. Calibrate your hygrometer, so you know what the real reading is, can be done overnight. Good luck with your eggs!

Here's some sites for good reading & some notes on what works for me.

REGARDING INCUBATION

*When is day 1 (see #69 & #70)
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res32-qa.html

*Calibrating your hygrometer (see # & read the calculation correction at the bottom) (see #241
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=271098&p=25

*The “dry incubation” method
https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html
(see #3) https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=113681&p=3

*Candling (see #6)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3364955#p3364955

*Egg progression (see #1)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261876&p=1

*Air cell
http://www.poultryclub.org/VHIncubation.htm

*Emergency egg repair with wax (see #68) hope.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=270500&p=68

*Egg carton hatching examples (see #5)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/form/viewtopic.php?id=276491&p=5

*My Christmas 09 - Incubation of 6 viable eggs (“save the favs”/see #70)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=270500&p=70

*My Christmas 09 - Hatched eggs, 6 chicks (“save the favs”/see #80)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=270500&p=80

*Need to sex your chicks. (hatchery method at 2-4 days old) Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGYP3dUaVrQ&NR=1

MY "DRY INCUBATION" METHOD USED - THAT WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL
(The purpose of using this method is so chicks don’t grow too large & not be able to turn during pip. Also, so they don’t drown in the excess liquid in the air cell when they break through before pipping; the excess liquid is caused by higher humidity.)
*Days 1 thru 17: Temperature was 99.5 degrees F (this temp is for forced air incubators, measured at the level of the egg using a small thermometer that lays on top of the eggs), Humidity was 42% (to 48%) (with occasional drop to no lower than 25% for air cell growth, which needs to be checked when candling so you can adjust your humidity). Eggs were propped up at an angle with wide end at top & turned 3 times a day (on my work days) & 5 times a day (on my weekends).
*Day 18: "Lockdown" starts. Stop turning eggs, put eggs into cardboard egg carton (sizzor away the empty egg carton parts, the carton keeps the air cell at the top & stops the hatched chicks from knocking around other eggs), keep temp at 99.5 F, bring humidity up to 55% for the durration, & do not open the incubator again until all chicks have hatched (opening it would drop the humidity too much for the other chicks in eggs & they could stick to shells & not get out). Be patient, as the last hatch took 20 hrs from 1st pip to the last one hatched.

JUST FOR FUN
*Homemade Natural Chicken Dust Bath Recipe (external parasites, such as mites) put 1 part of each of the following in a kitty litter tray & leave out (keep dry) for chickens: wood ash, DE (diatomaceous earth), sand & road dust (dusty dirt).
*Good veggies for chickens https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats

edited to include more info

 

[lemurchaser]

Just watch your temps as the humidity comes down. Mine always go up when my water well dries up. And then the temps go down with increased humidity.

 

[emwa1988]

I am so thankful you posted this (I know it's an old thread). I have just done almost EXACTLY the same thing and was looking for similar advice. No humidity tester on my incubator, popped the water in, got a humidity tester and nearly freaked out! Felt pretty stupid. Only 2 days into my hatch like you. Have removed the water and am hoping for the best.

How did yours turn out in the end?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I am so thankful you posted this (I know it's an old thread). I have just done almost EXACTLY the same thing and was looking for similar advice. No humidity tester on my incubator, popped the water in, got a humidity tester and nearly freaked out! Felt pretty stupid. Only 2 days into my hatch like you. Have removed the water and am hoping for the best.

How did yours turn out in the end?

Personally I think that removing water is the best thing you can do. I run a dry incubation for the first 17 days as well. The point of controlling humidity is to allow for the release of moisture and the growth of the air cells in the egg. A couple days at a high humidity (especially in the very beginning) can be corrected, and shouldn't compromise your hatch. I would recommend that you attempt a dry hatch for the first 17 days, but monitor your eggs air cells to check for growth. Here is a chart you can compare to see if your eggs' air cells are close to the right growth rate:


If your air cells are growing too big too fast, that means that your humidity is too low and the egg is loosing too much moisture to fast. If this happens you increase your humidity to slow down/stop the moisture loss. (Too much moisture loss can cause the chick to shrink wrap at hatch.) If your air cells are too small then your humidity is too high and not letting the moisture escape from the egg and the humidity needs to be lowered. (Not enough moisture loss can cause chicks to drown at hatch in the excess moisture.)

If you monitor your air cells you'll know whether your humidity levels are good, (no matter what the numbers say). If you do run dry and the air cells start looking like they are getting too big too fast, make sure you add a little water to the wells and check again in about 3 days. Good luck!

 

[emwa1988]

Thanks, I have removed all the water now. I was planning to candle on those day and I will watch the air cell. Humidity is at 50% now and I plan to keep it there. I think the problem is the ambient humidity is 50% (we live in a caravan) and so a "dry hatch" as you say is going to be about 50%! We lived in quite a dry heated flat last time. Anyway we'll see how it goes. Thanks for responding, I didn't think I'd get much feedback on such an old thread. Glad you think they'll be ok

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks, I have removed all the water now. I was planning to candle on those day and I will watch the air cell. Humidity is at 50% now and I plan to keep it there. I think the problem is the ambient humidity is 50% (we live in a caravan) and so a "dry hatch" as you say is going to be about 50%! We lived in quite a dry heated flat last time. Anyway we'll see how it goes. Thanks for responding, I didn't think I'd get much feedback on such an old thread. Glad you think they'll be ok

My hygrometer reads 40% in my bator dry, but we usually have pretty good ambient humidity as well.