Day 18 and air cell too large!

[Bill 101]

That's actually great news. Sorry for alarming yuou

 

[jbolt]

That's actually great news.  Sorry for alarming yuou

no, I asked, and your info was not uninformed, in fact it helped me work harder to raise humidity. I still have a staggered hatch with non optimal conditions. Keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of the peeps.

 

[jbolt]

JBOLT-----   I'm going to stick my neck out here & predict what I believe your results are going to be.

I don't think that 35-45% humidity is high enough for an incubator operating in the desert where humidity is very low.  Your setting eggs in the same incubator to hatch at different times always causes problems.  If you can't get humidity above 65% & because you are running it to low all through the incubation process, you won't be able to get it high enough at lockdown to come anywhere close to what you will need -   SOOOOO, I predict that your eggs are all going to be way low on moisture (air cells large) & the chicks, if they will be able to pip at all will shrink wrap in their shells   JMHO.  I HOPE I'm wrong.

soooii, an update ... .. I now have 4 of 6 eggs set hatched. 1 chick died soon after pipped, I thunk it was my fault, lesson learned. The other egg had a fully developed chick alive that hadn't hatched. However due to other chicks trampling it, the egg cracked at the bottom where I had put wax on hairline cracks at the start incubation. It didn't xcrack anything but the shell, but had exposed membranes at day 18, so I decided to tie it up carefully in a sandwich bag, and put it in a very cold windowsill. I thought it was the kindest thing I could do for it. So on my fist hatch in a homemade bator was 80% oh yeah!

 

[Elialvarez1985]

I am right here... do you have a tube like you would for air for a fish tank? you can gradually adde water to the bottom of the incubator THROUGH the vent ho;e if your Humidity drops too much....but remember do not touch the cover and only gradual changes dont make any big changes and relax


itchy fingers and panic can kill chicks at the last few days esp. for newcomers

Hmm I have always open my incubator nurture 360 and candle at days 18 19 and 20 lol just to make sure there still alive and have 100% hatching! Some pip at day 19 others next day haven't seen drowned chick yet I keep temp at 101 and humidity at 50 first 18 days then 60 last 2or3 days