don't we all love that humidity on lockdown!...eggs not making it to lockdown...what could be proble

[GuineasGalore]

Been reading and reading.....and reading till I can't seem to get it right YET.....

have 2 little giant still air bators....one for bating, nother for lockdown.....
none are in lockdown yet....got about a week to go.....
Practicing getting it's humidity right....is TOUGH AS CHICKENS!!!

Current setup....
1 temp/humidity in each bator
1 thermometor that the bators came with in each

Going the DRY INCuBATION method.....

The bator reads - 99 temp SOLID since before I set the eggs.....(got it right before puttin them in there!!!)
The humidity in the bator reads average 16 but sometimes fluctuates very little (a few numbers either way)

The hatcher bator reads - 99 temp but fluctuates when messin with humidity....still working on it's 99 temp happy place
The humidity in this is chillin at about 45......

What I have done to spike the humidity at it's current level (45)....
got some sponges (new!), cut them into strips that fit in the channels and put water in all the channels....
NO red plugs are in EITHER bator....
Just added today, a container of water with another whole sponge sitting up out of the water as a 'wick'......gonna see if this spikes the humidity.....
(I do have 3 more whole sponges to play with....got a 6 pack at wal mart and only put 2 in the chambers.....)

live in NC very near the coast.......

Any OTHER IDEAS to help the humidity SPIKE to 65??????

Thank you all very much for your lovely knowledge and expertise!!!......gettin the hatchin fever now!!!.....lol....

 

[mawinnett]

maybe a humidifier in the room

 

[lionkitty71]

I have that incubator and I also have a hard time getting my humidity up.. Mine is sitting at 50 percent humidity and I have had 3 hatch 9 more to go lol... I'm hoping it does ok but so far so good.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I go by the air cell, if it is not large enough they are not ready for lockdown. I am on day 19 and I may wait till this evening or even tomorrow. not drowning my beebees.

 

[GuineasGalore]

after a day of work.....still no decent luck with humidity...
Before work, added another container of water and a whole sponge above the channels and left it.....humidity was still as it was before but the temperature creaped up....
going to bring the temp down and put in BOTH red plugs.....after adding 'very warm' water.....see what happens...lol
also going to candle eggs to see where they are in development and air sac status shortly!

 

[GuineasGalore]

So, I have tried another adjustment......

- Put 'damp'.....meaning barely wet with water at all (not dripping by any means) paper towels on the large, wide channel on the outer side of the 'water channels"
AND
- put a second small storing containers just large enough to hold sponges up on their long side to wick water up....like others have posted about baby jars and a sponge to wick water up....

only made these modifications about 20 minutes ago.......Temp is 95 and humidity is 66.....with BOTH red plugs in.....will see what happens when it settles down...

got 7 days to go!!!

 

[gimmie birdies]

Okay the first 4 went to lock down, the blue and the dark freckled egg are in another bator and will be locked down tomorrow.

 

[GuineasGalore]

FINALLY....got that HUMIDITY up!!!....

2 red plugs in!
2 containers with a whole sponge in each!
paper towels barely damp on outer channel
cut up sponges in water channels

checked it this am and temp was at 99!!.....humidity at 82!......windows fogged a bit!

now to bring humidity to comfy zone.....took out both red plugs....

must get a pic and see if I can post it!....

 

[suebgbr]

I don't get this lock down and increased humidity idea.

Is it something you need to do in America particularly?

I have 2 Brinsea 20's with cradles. I am always forgetting what date I set the eggs so I only take it out of the cradle if I notice them cracking or I hear cheeping and see a chick suddenly do a headstand as the cradle tips.

I always leave the air bar in the middle and always add cold water from the tap when refilling the bottom wells.

I have always had 85-95 success rate with my hatches over the last 2 years. The exception to this was when I moved my broody silkie, sat on 6 eggs. She got so excited about being in a new place she abandoned the eggs. I found them cold and put them in the incubator. Only one hatched, but I still didn't do anything special.

I took the advice of one of your esteemed members. They said that the Momma bird wouldn't put the eggs into lock down. She will also leave them to go eat, even when they are pipping/cracking etc. She has no way of increasing the humidity to high levels (can you imagine the steam coming off her tail feathers?)

I know watching an incubator that does everything for you is boring, so is this a way to get involved or is there a valid reason for it?

 

[GuineasGalore]

ummm..... That is an interesting topic there suebgbr!.......I have absolutely no idea on that!....Perhaps someone can chime in on this....The only thing I can add is that the egg has to have more air sac volume than it did when it started so that i probably why the humidity jumps the last few days to help in this matter!....

Are you doing a dry hatch (not worrying about humidity) or regular hatch and just keeping humidity at constant all the way through?

got pics loading and going to put them up here shortly....