EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

[BullChick]

 

[BullChick]

First, we all want to know if you calibrated your equipment.

 

[Uff Da]

I did before the first incubation (two months ago) and it was all fine. Do I need to do it before each incubation?

Also...I have goats! Five of them!

 

[BullChick]

No, not before each one. I’m happy to hear you’re that prepared. Not to mention that you already have goats. I somehow missed getting the goats I wanted, but that’s another story!

 

[BullChick]

Humidity really isn’t a set number. Go by the size of the air cells, and adjust accordingly.
Do these help at all?

 

[Uff Da]

Yes; thank you! Some of my eggs last hatch had air cells that took up half of the egg.

So, does humidity not matter too much for the first 7 days, until I can see how the air cell is growing? I am worried about having it too high or too low, and not being able to recover from that. That's kind of what happened last time--I noticed the air cells were getting quite large around day 14, and increased the humidity up to 55-60%, but it didn't slow the air cell growth nearly enough. My first instinct with this hatch was to start with the humidity high-ish from the beginning, but then I read all of that dry hatch info....

 

[BantyChooks]

Yes; thank you! Some of my eggs last hatch had air cells that took up half of the egg.

So, does humidity not matter too much for the first 7 days, until I can see how the air cell is growing? I am worried about having it too high or too low, and not being able to recover from that. That's kind of what happened last time--I noticed the air cells were getting quite large around day 14, and increased the humidity up to 55-60%, but it didn't slow the air cell growth nearly enough. My first instinct with this hatch was to start with the humidity high-ish from the beginning, but then I read all of that dry hatch info....

I'd start at about where you are (40%) and adjust from there. Personally, I often have to run at 30% to get desired air cell size, but altitude and several other factors come into play, so just do what works for you. Sounds like you might need a higher level than some others do. Good luck! 6/18 on shipped eggs means you're doing something right, at least. I rarely get above a 40% hatch rate on them, even when I'm averaging nearly 100% on my own eggs.

 

[Pensmaster]

Yes; thank you! Some of my eggs last hatch had air cells that took up half of the egg.

So, does humidity not matter too much for the first 7 days, until I can see how the air cell is growing? I am worried about having it too high or too low, and not being able to recover from that. That's kind of what happened last time--I noticed the air cells were getting quite large around day 14, and increased the humidity up to 55-60%, but it didn't slow the air cell growth nearly enough. My first instinct with this hatch was to start with the humidity high-ish from the beginning, but then I read all of that dry hatch info....

I like 40% first 18 days and 60% for lockdown. Works real well for me.
However my elevation is only 400 feet and I’ve heard that higher elevation is tricky.

 

[Pensmaster]

Most of Montana gets kind of hot in the summer, unfortunately. We actually have the national record for widest temperature range, from -70 to 117. It gets into the 100s most summers, and we usually have weeks of 90+ temps. This summer has been mild--today is the first day I had temps over 90. But--no humidity!

Well heck that puts the stops on me moving to Montana to get cooler weather.

 

[Akrnaf2]

Finally some logic