Eggs sitting on wet paper towels

[Bertram]

I'm on the 19th day of incubating chicken eggs. I put paper towels on the bottom of the incubator so the chicks wouldn't slip but the paper towels are getting very soggy with all the humidity. Will the eggs be alright if they are sitting on something wet for so long or should I replace the paper towels.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

How high is your humidity? Are the paper towels touching any water that could be being soaked up?

 

[Bertram]

I've been trying to keep the humidity around 70%. There are a few sponges but they aren't sitting on the paper towel, they are just touching the corner.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Do you have any shelf liner that you could use instead of paper towels?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Sorry I only have a picture with my ducklings on it
This is what I use in my bator

 

[Bertram]

I might do that. I just wanted to know if sitting on wet paper towel might hurt the eggs. I didn't know if they might absorb to much water.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

No I do not believe it would hurt the eggs but it may cause a chill for the chicks when they hatch if it’s so wet.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm on the 19th day of incubating chicken eggs. I put paper towels on the bottom of the incubator so the chicks wouldn't slip but the paper towels are getting very soggy with all the humidity. Will the eggs be alright if they are sitting on something wet for so long or should I replace the paper towels.

What does the bottom of the incubator look like? What material is it made of? Mine has a wire screen so they can't slip. Do your incubator instructions address this? I'm curious as to how big of a risk slipping really is.

The towels being damp would not bother me. If they are so wet that it is essentially standing water I'd be more concerned. I would not like that at all. If the pip is against that towel I'd be worried about the chick drowning. But how would the paper towel get that wet unless it is actually in the water reservoir?

Everything inside the incubator should be at incubation temperature: the chicks, eggs, water, air, and the inside walls of the incubator. The fan should not be moving the air very fast at all. My chicks are damp when they hatch and I've never had one chill. The thought that a chick could possibly chill in a warm incubator has never crossed my radar and I haven't seen any incubator manufacturer warn about it. Moving a chick from the incubator to the brooder is where it could get chilled. If the chick is wet when you do that the risk is higher.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

paper towels are getting very soggy with all the humidity.

Moving a chick from the incubator to the brooder is where it could get chilled. If the chick is wet when you do that the risk is higher.

I was thinking though how are the chicks going to dry if they are sat on “very soggy” paper towels that are not drying out in there already. So could still be damp when moved but it was just my thinking. I’m quite happy to stand corrected

 

[Bertram]

The floor is hard plastic. No instructions that I can find but when I checked this morning it seemed to have dried out. I might have overreacted because this is are first hatch that might actually hatch. Every other time we used ancient styrofoam incubators and the only one that ever hatched was the little guy in my avatar. This time we're using Brinsea incubators and it looks like 30 out of 4 dozen that might hatch.
Another question. Which is worse when hatching, having the humidity too high or too low?