day 19 can't get humidity past 60%

[kari04]

Hi,I'm currently on day 19 of my very first hatch and I've got a sponge,wet paper towels and all the incubator Wells have water in,I have the whole surface area covered and still can't get my humidity past 60% is there anything else I can do now to get to around the 65-70% mark?

 

[vehve]

I wouldn't worry about it too much before the birds start to hatch, that's when you need the humidity to rise, and usually just the hatching itself will raise the humidity greatly because the eggs themselves will put out a lot of moisture once they're cracked open, as will the wet chicks. Raising the humidity too early will risk drowning the chicks.

Many people also report better success with lower humidity rates throughout the hatch, and a better indicator on what's going on would be to follow the weight loss of the eggs, trying to get it close to about 12-13% around day 18.

Good luck with your hatch.

 

[kari04]

Thank you,I will let it stay around 60%,Is it correct to put the vent plug in now too?

 

[kari04]

I hopefully have 14 that I'm hoping will hatch,(ever the optimist especially with shipped eggs) and some saddled air sacs and a few air sacs that were fine when candled that went weird near the end,I have placed them 3 to 4 in the lid of a couple of egg boxes,point side down with the air sac facing up,is this correct too?

 

[vehve]

I'd leave it out, the chicks will need air when they hatch. What are you using, a Brinsea Mini?

Also, try to not open the incubator unnecessarily, the chicks hatch with three days worth of energy reserve, and people usually remove fully dried chicks only once per 24 hours.

Here are some links for you to read while you wait.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

The one about assisted hatching is more for you to know what could go wrong, and the most important thing to take away from it is to not intervene too early, just wait.

 

[kari04]

I'm using a turbo tb5
I guess it's just a waiting game,I can't see inside so it's the not knowing what's going on in there,I can open the lid a touch and the humidity only drops by 1% and the temp stays the same

 

[vehve]

One more thing, is your hygrometer calibrated? They are notoriously unreliable, you can find a lot of instructions on how to calibrate one via google.

 

[kari04]

It's all automatic,built into the incubator which controls temp and humidity,there is probably some deviation in there

 

[kari04]

Also is it ok the lay them slightly upright for hatch or should I lay them completely horizontal?

 

[vehve]

I've hatched them horizontally, but I've only played with a tiny incubator without any holders. I don't think it would matter all that much, but somehow I like to leave the eggs so that they can roll around as the chick tries to break free. That isn't really necessary, as in a nest they would hatch in which ever position the broody has left them, but I think our eggs are usually on their side in the coop as well.