First time incubating questions

[FlowerDragon]

It's day 20 of incubation, but will switch over to day 21 in 2-2.5 hours. There are no pips yet from any of the 23 eggs that had been developing. Should I be worried or just give it more time. Humidity is at 65%, is that too high or too low? I don't see any vents to open and there's a lot of condensation on the lid.

 

[FlowerDragon]

We have 5 that have hatched already and several more working on it. Thank you to everyone for the help.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

You're over 80% humidity when there is a lot of condensation on the lid like that. In the future if you raise humidity for hatch 70% RH is good, 80% is too high. Most that incubate at 50-55 RH keep it at that for hatch. I incubate 30% and hatch 70%. Incubating RH is about how much the air cells grow. If older or more porous eggs you'd incubate higher humidity. If fresh and good shells you'd want to incubate drier.

The chicks won't dry out in there, take them out and put in the brooder as they hatch. I wouldn't change anything at this point. Next hatch calibrate a hygrometer with a salt test and keep in mind that RH is based on the surface area of water. If you don't have smaller trays for water in incubator then use a container size that hits the humidity you want. Fiddle with it after this hatch is done and you'll get it dialed in.

 

[FlowerDragon]

That's great! 83% hatch rate is outstanding.

I recommend that before you use this incubator again, I'd test that hygrometer in the unit. I think you could do it this way: Make sure the unit is completely dry. Put your new hygrometers inside the unit. Mix a tablespoon or two of salt with little water in a dish, so that it's like a slurry. Place the dish inside the incubator and close it up, sealing it so it's airtight. After several hours, the humidity level should read 75% on all of the gauges. If your unit reads higher or lower, you'll know how much to calculate up or down when you run it the next time.

Then, drill a 1/2-inch hole in that lid for ventilation, and run several tests to figure out how to control the humidity level. Like someone said above, it's the surface area of water that determines humidity level. So if your incubator has channels in the bottom, experiment with how filling one, two or three channels (etc.) affects humidity - and how often to add water, and how MUCH water, to maintain the desired level.

My brand-new incubator tested poorly on both temperature (2.3-deg too low) and humidity (13% too high). The unit's gauge allows me to set calibration for temperature, so that part was easy. But I had to drill two holes in the lid and run several days of tests to find how to control humidity with the separate hygrometers I'd bought. I discovered that when the water level ran too low, the temperature spiked - so temp and humidity are related. I made notes of the new settings I needed to run the unit, and taped it to the lid. My first batch of eggs had 100% hatch rate (I admit, though, it might have been pure dumb luck). I've got batch #2 in there now, so we'll see.

One more hatched during the night, so that's 20 of the 23! I will run those tests before next hatch. I did put the holes the first day that you mentioned it, and I think it helped. I hope your hatch goes well. Thank you so much for all of your information.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

It's day 20 of incubation, but will switch over to day 21 in 2-2.5 hours. There are no pips yet from any of the 23 eggs that had been developing. Should I be worried or just give it more time. Humidity is at 65%, is that too high or too low? I don't see any vents to open and there's a lot of condensation on the lid.

Have you tested the humidity gauge on your incubator? If not, do that after this clutch is done. There's an easy salt test you can do: https://www.wikihow.com/Test-a-Hygrometer

65% humidity during the last 3 days of incubation is a tad low; It should be nearer to 80%. But it's not awful. You have condensation because there's no ventilation. Are you quite sure there are no vents? No little plugs that might be covering a hole?

It's a good idea to use a separate thermostat and hygrometer in your incubator, anyway. The ones built into the incubator often don't work correctly. The first time I used my new incubator, I had three (3!) separate thermometers besides the one in the lid. All had slightly different readings, but the one with the MOST different readings was the one in the lid. I quit trusting that one.

Don't worry yet. Give it more time, at least until Tuesday. The "21 Days" incubation period is just an AVERAGE. Some hatch sooner, some later. There are many factors that might influence how quickly they hatch, mostly dependent on their size, and the temperature and humidity they've been exposed to up to this point.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Oh my. All that moisture canNOT be good. I'd drill a 1/2" size hole in that lid pronto, if I were you. Or two holes. Open it up, dry the inside of the lid to remove as much as you can. I doubt your hygrometer is accurate at all - condensation like that is near 100% I think. I could be WRONG though. It's just what I'd do if it were my incubator and my eggs.

 

[FlowerDragon]

You don't want it to dry out completely, so keep some measure of water in there.

It's still reading 65%. We do have one chick that started pipping so hopefully the others aren't far behind.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Yeah, your temperatures are good. I'd not fiddle with that much. Temp is the most important part. Humidity has to hit extremes to cause harm- under 20% and over 80%, Though once you dial in your process after monitoring the air sac for a hatch or two you'll be able to get all of them to hatch.

As for temp, if they hatched a tad late then try 0.5 to 1 degree F less next time. Think you said they started a day late. Small eggs will hatch earlier but in general you can dial in your temp on the unit just by how early or late they hatch. If I set at noon then I want them to pip at midnight 20.5 days later and be hatching full tilt at noon, finishing up hatch by late afternoon. When that happens I know my temp is spot on.

 

[FlowerDragon]

Yeah, your temperatures are good. I'd not fiddle with that much. Temp is the most important part. Humidity has to hit extremes to cause harm- under 20% and over 80%, Though once you dial in your process after monitoring the air sac for a hatch or two you'll be able to get all of them to hatch.

As for temp, if they hatched a tad late then try 0.5 to 1 degree F less next time. Think you said they started a day late. Small eggs will hatch earlier but in general you can dial in your temp on the unit just by how early or late they hatch. If I set at noon then I want them to pip at midnight 20.5 days later and be hatching full tilt at noon, finishing up hatch by late afternoon. When that happens I know my temp is spot on.

Cool stuff to know. Thanks! 19 hatched of 23 that developed.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

It's day 20 of incubation, but will switch over to day 21 in 2-2.5 hours. There are no pips yet from any of the 23 eggs that had been developing. Should I be worried or just give it more time. Humidity is at 65%, is that too high or too low? I don't see any vents to open and there's a lot of condensation on the lid.

What model incubator are you using?