Egg turning and humidity/temp questions in incubator

[talkinboutchickens]

Hello I was just wondering what everyone's favorite temperature and humidity is in order to get the most successful hatch rates. There are so many mixed results out there on the internet that I am just not sure at all which temp/humidity levels to go with! I've read somewhere to go with 60% humidity for the first 18 days, but other sites say to do 45%-55%! And for the temp levels they vary as well.
It is not that urgent, I am going to be hatching in 1-2 months but I just want to be all prepared and not researching something at the last moment before I put my eggs in the incubator.
I also have 1 last question, since my incubator's egg holes aren't big enough in the tray, I have to manually hand-turn them now. How do I do that? I watched this video (see 3:01) and it said that I turn them one way and then the other and not just one way. I've seen that you mark one side of the egg and then the opposite side, but the guy in the video just put the "o" and "x" close to each other. Why is that? Am I supposed to do that?

Thank you!

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

For chicken eggs i like the temp to be at 99.5 in my nuture right. It bounces between 99.5 and 100 percent. The humidity i like it to be at 50%.
Then at day 17 they go into lockdown and i raise the humidity to 65%.


I put a x and o to see if the eggs are being turned .


Im not sure about the manual egg turning.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've read somewhere to go with 60% humidity for the first 18 days, but other sites say to do 45%-55%!

There is no one humidity that works best for all of us. Eah incubator can be different, even if it is the same make and model. The conditions in the room the incubator is in can make a difference. Differences in eggs can make a difference. The commercial hatcheries have to tune the humidity on what to use for a specific incubator if they move it from one place to another in the incubating room.

What I suggest is to pick a certain humidity and keep that throughout your first incubation. If your incubator came with a recommendation that would be a good place to start. Be as consistent as you can and see what happens. Tweak it if you need to.

The good news is that a fairly wide range of humidities will still give you a pretty good hatch. You don't have to be really precise. But try it and see what happens, adjusting as necessary.

And for the temp levels they vary as well.

A lot of this depends on your type of incubator. If you have a forced air (has a fan) the temperature should be pretty consistent throughout, but in a still air (no fan) the temperature will vary according to the elevation. Warm air rises and colder air sinks. Where you take the temperature in a still air makes a big difference. The general recommendations for a forced air is 99.5 Fahrenheit (37.5 C) taken anywhere inside. For a still air you want 101.5 F (38.6 C) taken at the top of the eggs.

since my incubator's egg holes aren't big enough in the tray, I have to manually hand-turn them now. How do I do that?

What make and model of incubator do you have? Can you provide a link to the incubator you are using so I have a better idea what is going on. Maybe someone will see this thread that has your incubator and will be able to really help you.

There are many different ways you could turn the eggs. I prefer the automatic turners so I don't have to fool with it and it doesn't get forgotten. The way I suggest you manually turn the eggs is to put an "x" on one side and an "o" 180 degrees on the other side. Lay them flat with one mark up. Then when you turn them totally turn them over so the other sign it up. It doesn't matter if you turn them to the left or right or even end over end as long as you don't drop them and crack them. People try to make things as confusing and complex as they can. They don't always have to be hard. I don't know why that guy only turned them part way.

Keep it as simple as you can. Start out with an x on top and an o on the bottom. When you turn them the o is on top and the x is on the bottom. Next time it is reversed.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

People try to make things as confusing and complex as they can. They don't always have to be hard. I don't know why that guy only turned them part way.

I know right! That's what I think all the time.

What make and model of incubator do you have? Can you provide a link to the incubator you are using so I have a better idea what is going on.

I have a MeeF incubator. You can go to this link to visit my post about my incubator. It includes some pics as well.
Thank you so much for clearing things up!