Condensation? Humidity? Help!

[NoVA Chicks]

I'm suddenly getting condensation on the inside of the lid of my incubator. I haven't added any water since it started in case the humidity is too high. Does anyone know what the effects will be? After seeing lots of movement last week, I'm seeing much less activity the last couple of days--although junior is definitely still alive in there. If there's a problem I want to address it right away.

 

[dancingbear]

If you have condensation your humidity is too high. You need to dry it out some, quickly.

Jr. could be suffocating from too much humidity. Are you only incubating one egg?

What day are you on? Depending on how far along the egg is, it may or may not indicate a problem that there's less movement. Near hatch, they can't move much, too crowded.
Of course, you probably wouldn't be able to tell how much movement there is, at that point.

What species is the egg? That can make a difference on how much humidity you need.

Are you in a humid climate, or a dry one?

 

[NoVA Chicks]

We're down to one viable egg at this point, chicken, 14 days. We're in Northern Virginia, which is fairly moderate but it's been rather humid this week. I'm going to go dry out the incubator and see if that helps. I'm way too attached to this little guy.

 

[dancingbear]

You probably don't need any added water until day 18, and maybe not then, if the egg hasn't lost enough moisture by then. You might want to do a search..wait, let me find that other thread. I'll be back.

 

[dancingbear]

OK, this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=242551&p=2 Post number 12, there's photos of eggs with the air cell development marked in pencil. that'll give you a good idea what the air cell should look like by day 18, so you'll can better decide whether to add any water or not. If the air cell looks too small, I wouldn't add any more water.

Good luck, let us know what happens!

 

[NoVA Chicks]

I was adjusting the incubator this morning and knocked junior. He went rolling and hit the counter and cracked his shell. My first thought was that maybe I could still save him--I've seen some of the wax repairs on the forums--but he started bleeding through his shell. I just let him go.

I'm so upset. I'm going to try to find some eggs that I can get here by tomorrow so that my daughter doesn't realize what happened. Our eggs came from a farm 4 hours away and I thought about trying to drive there today while she's in school, but I don't think I can make it. And I just sent an email--they might not even have eggs today. Ugh, I'm so upset at myself. I can't believe I got so attached to this egg.

 

[farrier!]

Quote:

Post in the egg buying/selling and see if someone is closer to you.

 

[NoVA Chicks]

We should have three eggs arriving this morning. Back to square one . . .