First time incubating & I need some advice/support!

[lamNervousNellie]

Gah, I'm not sure where to begin. I'm so frustrated and worried at the moment!

I guess my first question is: What is the proper humidity percentage to have in my incubator to hatch chicken eggs? I started my incubator 7 days ago and have been keeping it between 55-59%.. but the more research I do, the more frustrated and confused I become. I did a forum search here and got answers ranging from 35-60% for the first 18 days.

I have a Little Giant w/ the forced air fan kit, an egg turner, and a digital therm/hygrometer. Today while checking on my eggs I noticed that one of them was not turning.. meaning that although the egg turner is working, this little guy slipped or somehow moved so that he was perfectly vertical when he should've been fully tilted to the side. I'm not sure how long it's been like this, I just noticed it today. Anyway, so I sort of freaked & pulled him out for a candling & now I'm sick with worry because I'm not sure if what I'm seeing inside this guy, or any of the others for the matter, if what I'm supposed to be seeing.

Any suggestions/advice/support would be greatly apprectiated.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum!

Glad you joined us!

Your first time is always worrying and a huge learning experience. Sometimes they don't go well and sometimes they do. You are still going to worry.

The reason you get so many different answers on humidity is that the same thing does not work for all of us. You'd think that inside the incubator conditions are the same for all of us regardless of what the conditions are outside the incubator, but that is not the case. What I suggest you do is be consistent this first hatch and see what happens. Don't go jumping all over the place, because then you don't know what worked or what problems you had. After the hatch, analyze your unhatched eggs and see if you can tell what changes you might need to make. That is not always real easy because there are a lot of different variables, but it is the best way I know to do it.

Unless you calibrated your hygrometer and thermometer, you cannot be sure what humidity or temperature you have anyway. It is very easy for either to be off, sometimes by quite a bit. Next time you are at a place that sells several thermometers, look at several. It is not unusual for some of them to be off several degrees although they are on the same shelf in the same climate controlled conditions. Manufacturing tolerances can throw them off.

To be honest, I have never calibrated my hygrometer. I just followed the instructions from the manufacturer on which water reservoirs to fill and tried that. It works. I use my hygrometer to tell me when I need to add water, not what the humidity actually is. The thermometer is more important to me.

Good luck and once again,

 

[beckim5]

This is my first hatch as well and we're due to go into lockdown on Saturday. If you candle at 7 days you should definitely see what looks a bit like a "spider" - it will be a dark spot with veins running from/to it. You may be able to see a dark spot within a dark spot that will be the chick's eye depending on the type of eggs that you have and how well you can see into them. It's easiest to see if you candle them in complete darkness. I would check it now, and then check it in a few days to be sure that it's developing and looks like the rest of them. From what I understand, the reason that they are "turned" is to prevent them from adhering to the membrane, but I'm not 100% positive about that.

I hope that it all looks okay - if you can get a clear photo and post it people will be able to tell you more about it! Wishing you the best!

 

[bluegoose]

Dont worry, I have used lg bators before and the humidity was about 45-50 % that worked good for me just raise it to about 70%the last 3 days before they hatch alot of people hatch eggs with no water in the bators untill the last 3 days then you can bring the humidity up to about 70%.what works for me and everyone else might not work for you due to the temp in your house the humidity in your house your incubator. its trial and error to see what works for you so dont worry. at 7 days I would not worry about the egg not tilting just find out why its not and fix the problem. and then set back and injoy.

 

[shandiane78]

Because of so much varying advice, I actually don't bother monitoring the humidity. I provide some humidity for the first 18 days, then a lot for the last three days. Not very scientific, but stops me from obsessing...

As for the egg that wasn't turning right, just put it back in and don't worry! If you're having a hard time seeing anything right now, try candling it at 10 days or so.