First time incubating, need reassurance…

[Lainey-chick]

I have a nurture right 360 incubator and am on day 2 of lockdown. There are 6 eggs inside and before lockdown my humidity was stable near 50% the whole time. Now, on lockdown, I opened the vent all the way and filled both water ports and the humidity level is around 58-62%. Is this okay or do I need to do something to raise the humidity? I keep reading where oxygen is more important than humidity, so I don’t want to close the vent, but I also don’t want to harm them by not having enough humidity.

 

[Ridgeback825]

I do a dry incubation then fill the humidity reserve all the way for the hatch. I do live in Florida, so it helps. During incubation it's 20-35% and I can only get it to 55-65% max for hatching. This has worked great for us and, after the first chick hatches, it will spike. We've never had an issue with shrink wrapping and works well. The humidity will determine how big the air cell gets during incubation and helps soften the shell for the hatch. It's a dance that takes some time to study and learn for your specific climate. Good luck and be sure to post pics of the fluffballs!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Your humidity was pretty high throughout incubation. How do the air cells look?
at this point at lockdown I'd just continue the 50% and not raise it much above that.

 

[Ridgeback825]

Our humidity was actually lower than our first try and the air cells were much bigger. I do help if the external pip sits for more than 3 hours or so. Here is a pic, as I always outline the air cell on the last candling before lockdown, and of how I help the chick get air.

 

[Lainey-chick]

Your humidity was pretty high throughout incubation. How do the air cells look?
at this point at lockdown I'd just continue the 50% and not raise it much above that.

The instructions for the incubator said to keep it at 50% until the last three days and then raise it to 70%. Each time I candled, they were all growing. The air cells looked good as far as I could tell from pictures that I saw online.

 

[Lainey-chick]

I do a dry incubation then fill the humidity reserve all the way for the hatch. I do live in Florida, so it helps. During incubation it's 20-35% and I can only get it to 55-65% max for hatching. This has worked great for us and, after the first chick hatches, it will spike. We've never had an issue with shrink wrapping and works well. The humidity will determine how big the air cell gets during incubation and helps soften the shell for the hatch. It's a dance that takes some time to study and learn for your specific climate. Good luck and be sure to post pics of the fluffballs!

Thanks! My house stays fairly dry in the winter. I was going to try to do a dry hatch, but was nervous they wouldn’t get enough humidity, so I followed the instructions. These are my test hatch, my bym. I wanted to start with my own eggs before buying eggs from breeders.

 

[Lainey-chick]

I have 2 out of 6 that are pipping! I just noticed the first one about an hour or so ago and then after dinner saw the other one. They are due tomorrow.

 

[Lainey-chick]

I have a 3rd pipping! I’m so excited!

 

[Huntmaster]

Now comes the hard part just watching and patiently waiting and letting them do the work can take 24hrs to hatch.

 

[KelseyBoxer]

I love the NR 360! After starting with horrible foam incubators, my DH gifted me the incubator and have had about 5 good hatches. Good job on your new babies. Any pictures?