Celadon eggs just went into our incubator! 1st hatch.

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

I just added 30 Celadon eggs to our incubator. I'm nervous. The plan is 45% humidity and 99.5-100 F. It has an automatic turner but it doesn't move them a ton (or so it seems). Hopefully it's enough. We were told to not turn on the automatic turner for 48 hours (because they were shipped).

Has anyone successfully candled a Celadon egg? Should I even try?

Also, I was told to put down a paper towel in the incubator before lock down, to help the chicks get their footing the first little bit. Does that sound right? Won't a paper towel throw off the humidity?

Any other tips? I'm in Utah, if that helps.

 

[Nabiki]

Your temperatures sound good, but I would lower the humidity to about 30% until you get pips.

 

[Nabiki]

Thank you. The instructions that came with it said 45%-50% until lock down and then 70%-80% during lockdown... but that seemed high from what I've read. Is it just different in varying places?
Without adding any water we were staying at 25% in our house.

I did that with my first two hatches. I got much better hatch rates when I lowered the humidity.

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

I did that with my first two hatches. I got much better hatch rates when I lowered the humidity.

Thank you! That is advice I was hoping for!

 

[cmom]

Your temperatures sound good, but I would lower the humidity to about 30% until you get pips.

Ditto.

When I get shipped eggs I usually put them in the incubator ASAP but don't turn on the turner until the next day. Good luck and have fun...

 

[Nabiki]

Any tips on getting and keeping the humidity at 30? We have a small sponge in there that is damp and it's staying around 50. Just a smaller sponge?

Try not putting anything in at all. If that brings the humidity too low, you can get a small jar (baby food or something) and cover the top partway with foil until you get the right humidity. The deeper the jar, the less often you have to refill it. It's the surface area that determines humidity.

 

[als77]

A shelf liner would probably be better than paper towel for lockdown. I managed to block most of the air-flow in my incubator during lock-down

 

[Nabiki]

Thank you. I don't think a baby food jar will fit in our small incubator, but that information does help. How low in humidity is too low? Below 30?

I would consider 20% to be too low. Maybe you can get something like a short test tube?
Something like these, maybe?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FVY5L5M/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_102?psc=1&uh_it=5b1c9d1e12dc6e20e041329342b5f359_CT&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFWMTNPNDY3MUlaMEMmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAzNzA3NzUyUEVHR1IwQkdGMUZCJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA2MDY2NDExRjRRMVdBNU9QRE5VJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c2Rfb25zaXRlX2Rlc2t0b3AmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

I would consider 20% to be too low. Maybe you can get something like a short test tube?
Something like these, maybe?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FVY5L5M/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_102?psc=1&uh_it=5b1c9d1e12dc6e20e041329342b5f359_CT&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFWMTNPNDY3MUlaMEMmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAzNzA3NzUyUEVHR1IwQkdGMUZCJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA2MDY2NDExRjRRMVdBNU9QRE5VJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c2Rfb25zaXRlX2Rlc2t0b3AmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

We used the cap to a spray bottle cap filled with water and we've been able to hold the humidity between 30-36%. I have to refill it every 12 hours but it's working. The temperature is holding steady.
When we try to candle them (I was told we could try at day 5 and again at day 13/14 before lockdown) do we just quickly take out one egg at a time so they don't get cold? Then candle quickly and put back?

 

[Nabiki]

We used the cap to a spray bottle cap filled with water and we've been able to hold the humidity between 30-36%. I have to refill it every 12 hours but it's working. The temperature is holding steady.
When we try to candle them (I was told we could try at day 5 and again at day 13/14 before lockdown) do we just quickly take out one egg at a time so they don't get cold? Then candle quickly and put back?

That's usually how I do it. I also don't candle them all at once. With 30 eggs, I'd probably candle 10 a day, but there's no harm in candling all 30 of them. They can handle cooling off for a bit without any harm.