Did I kill them

[dandydoodle]

This is my first incubation. I read up on humidity an all before I started. I found it said humidity should be 60% until day 19 then bumped up to 70%. Okay, I am on day 20 day two of lockdown. I just read a thread and they are saying 60 is to high it should be 40 to 50..

Do you think I have drowned them????

 

[Alexander]

No.People will say what their humidity was.There is no standard humidity.Dont lose hope.You are too close.

Not to get your hopes down but i hatched 12 out of 14 chicks with 30% humidity

 

[dandydoodle]

Has anyone had a successful hatch at 60%???? Should I stay at 70% humidity for the rest of the time or should I let the humidity decrease??

 

[Griffin Nest]

i had a successful rate at 50%. i never tried 60%

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

I had hatched 10 out of 12 Serama and OEGB at 70%. I bumped it up from 50 to 70 last day or two.

 

[dandydoodle]

Well I have done 60% the whole hatch. We are on day 20 and I bumped it up to 70% on day 19,

Quote:

 

[no1hilbily]

Mama hen cant control humidity she gets what ever mother nature serves
up

 

[Chinchilla2]

Quote:
I don't think you have drowned them. The embryos then chicks have been in a higher humidity from the get-go and that is a major factor in their ability to handle a higher humidity. If you had started out around 30% and then soared up to 60% or better, then you might have problems. However, if your humidity drops down to around 65% between now and hatching time, don't fret it.

Everyone has their own techniques that work best for the ambient air, the birds, the eggs, etc. Where I am at, incubating between 35-35% with a boost around 40-45% for hatch works best for chickens (that's the range I used for the ones in my siggy line). At the same time, 40-45% then 50-55% for quail gets the job done. A friend of mine does great with 30-35% & 40-45% for shipped chicken and quail eggs but if she incubates eggs her own birds produced, she gets better hatch rates if she goes up 45-50% and 60-65%. Personally, I think a chick that wants to come out into the world will figure out a way to do it no matter how we fret over humidity.

The thing that I get a kick out of is when I have eggs with dates on them. 99% of the time the egg with the date furtherest from incubation time will be the last chick to hatch while the one with the same or closest date of incubation will pop out of that shell the day before anyone else and more times than not it goes from pip to "FEED ME!" in less than 2 hours. Darn good thing I make sure I get my brooder going on lockdown day

 

[RhodeRunner]

A hens stomach is bare which gives her the ability to help maintain humidity and temperatures. High humidity can drown the chicks as they are pipping through, however chances are your chicks will not pip through till later today, or tomorrow. So you should still have a shot at a decent hatch if you can get the humidity down to where it should be. Perhaps, being on the lower scale of the humidity range will help.
Good luck!

 

[dandydoodle]

Thanks, I still haven't seen anyone actually say they have had a successful hatch rate at 60 to 70 percent. This is my first incubation I will be happy if anyone hatches.