DRY INCUBATION and AIR SAC MONITORING!?!?

[laceyyates]

You can relax and breath. Dips and spikes in humidity does not compromise the chicks. Humidity is important, yes, but as an average. It's not like temps where a drastic spike can kill them right there. With humidity you have lots of area to play with. The importance of humidity is that it allows the eggs too loose enough moisture over the period of incubation. I don't like my humidity dropping down into the teens either. I only run dry normally if I can keep it up around 25%, I prefer 30%, but as long as it does't drop into the teens or stay below 25% for days, I don't freak out. Now, if I need to add a little moisture to get my humidity up out of the teens, I add a wet sponge. Just one kitchen sized wet sponge. I don't ever put water in my wells for the first 17 days. Even a small amount of water in the wells in going to spread out and increase the water surface. Some people use like a top of a pill bottle, something small so the surface area stays small. I find the sponge works perfect for me I. I also add sponges at lockdown after filling the wells. It helps me get that high humidity and since my sponges are placed at egg level it makes it easier to rewet the sponges and add them back in when I need to refresh the moisture instad of fighting to get to the wells.

Thank you SO much! I'm breathing now

About the sponges - I think this is a great idea and may try to incorporate it if my humidity drops again. Do your sponges ever get icky in the 21 days they may be in the incubator? Do you have to change them out, or ? Thank you again for your response!

 

[n8ivetxn]

I stole somebody's idea for a well... they took a crystal light tube (wal mart brand is square) and cut it in half long ways (silicon the top on the end) and it fits along side the end of my bator. I cut a sponge in half and placed them in it, run the aquarium tube w/funnel and give it a little drink...

laceyyates, I've generally been keeping humidity around 30 - 35%, but yesterday when I got up it had dropped to 21%, I know it was in the low 30s when I went to bed.... I guess the biggest spike has been up in the 40s range..... I think the small well and sponges help keep humidity fairly stable.... Now, that being said, when it comes time to bump it up, I think I'll have to change to something bigger - more surface area, to get humidity up. Not sure what it will be, but I'll find something to fit in there...

I'll probably swap the sponges out with some fresh ones, later on....

And congratulations on your egg development!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thank you SO much! I'm breathing now

About the sponges - I think this is a great idea and may try to incorporate it if my humidity drops again. Do your sponges ever get icky in the 21 days they may be in the incubator? Do you have to change them out, or ? Thank you again for your response!

I use brand new sponges (from the dollar store) for every hatch, and nope, they don't get icky or nasty in any way. Just make sure the sponges don't have any kind of cleaning solution in them. After I use them to hatch in they become bathroom sponges..lol

I stole somebody's idea for a well... they took a crystal light tube (wal mart brand is square) and cut it in half long ways (silicon the top on the end) and it fits along side the end of my bator. I cut a sponge in half and placed them in it, run the aquarium tube w/funnel and give it a little drink...

laceyyates, I've generally been keeping humidity around 30 - 35%, but yesterday when I got up it had dropped to 21%, I know it was in the low 30s when I went to bed.... I guess the biggest spike has been up in the 40s range..... I think the small well and sponges help keep humidity fairly stable.... Now, that being said, when it comes time to bump it up, I think I'll have to change to something bigger - more surface area, to get humidity up. Not sure what it will be, but I'll find something to fit in there...

I'll probably swap the sponges out with some fresh ones, later on....

And congratulations on your egg development!

At one point when I hatched in the fall I had trouble with low humidity. We run a pellet stove and it dries the air real bad. I found these sponge cloths at the dollar store that I put over the bottom of the bator, (above my wells but under my screen), so I had my wells filled, and the sponge clothes and the regular sponges atop the screen to achieve my higher humidity level.

These are the clothes I found:

 

[n8ivetxn]

I like that, next time I'm in town I'll check for something like them.... I started out building it with a raised floor and well underneath... I should've left it that way, but I was afraid the height put bulb placement too close to the eggs, so I took it out. However, if I'd left it in, I couldn't use it at this point, our humidity has been just right with the small well.

I tried to take into consideration that fact that we're heading into fall and I may need to start running heat before these kids hatch, but being a first timer, I just wasn't sure how to factor that into the equation. We have a stand alone stove (looks like a pellet stove) that uses propane to heat the house.

 

[n8ivetxn]

Ok.... well, I've just been informed we're repainting the coop today!

We get so much rain here, if I don't get fresh paint on it this season, we'll be rebuilding it in the spring!

 

[laceyyates]

OOOOHHHH MYYYYY GOSSSSSHHHH!!!! This process is freakin SWEET!

I so far can tell I have 5 buffs developing and 6 cream legbars! YEA! One of my legbars I can watch the heart beating! So fascinating. I'm now officially addicted!

Only afternoon of day 3

 

[AmyLynn2374]

OOOOHHHH MYYYYY GOSSSSSHHHH!!!! This process is freakin SWEET!

I so far can tell I have 5 buffs developing and 6 cream legbars! YEA! One of my legbars I can watch the heart beating! So fascinating. I'm now officially addicted!

Only afternoon of day 3

It is fascinating, and so cool to see development. Wait until you see a little foot sticking up.

 

[n8ivetxn]

Ya! Fun stuff

I wanna see little feet

Wow, this could really get out of control - and eggs hatch so much faster than sheep lamb

..... I'm already trying to justify doing this again!.... The word "addiction" comes to mind

Speaking of sheep lambing, my ewes are going to be rolling out the lambs about the same time my chicks should be hatching - the end of the month could get really busy!

OOOOHHHH MYYYYY GOSSSSSHHHH!!!! This process is freakin SWEET!

I so far can tell I have 5 buffs developing and 6 cream legbars! YEA! One of my legbars I can watch the heart beating! So fascinating. I'm now officially addicted!

Only afternoon of day 3

It is awesome... I have a feeling most won't hatch, but I'll be so happy to get a handful of healthy fuzzy butts!

 

[laceyyates]

Oh noooooo! I candled today and it appears that 5 out of the 9 developing cream leg bars I had have developed half blood rings?? Or could this be something else? WHAT gives? My buffs that I received local are all doing great and developing right along. Could it have been the fact that the legbars were shipped is why the blood rings? Do I throw them out, or wait?

 

[n8ivetxn]

Are you sure it isn't a "blood island?" - That's a good thing, a sign of life.... I have one or two like that, I don't think it's a blood ring, because it doesn't go all the way around the shell, so I'm keeping them for a while... as long as they don't smell, it stays!