First Time

[AnjjEvans]

Hello!

We're incubating duck eggs for the first time

Is this normal? Chick piped a small hole yesterday, today made it to this. Should it be that wet? My incubator says the humidity is only at 57, I was going to add more water to raise it but just curious now if maybe the humidity reading is off. I dont want to drown the chicks? We have 9 others unpiped but today is just now day 28

Should I open a vent? Both vents? Add water and raise humidity to get it to the 65-75 range?

Its being very noisy in there but not doing much to get out anymore

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I wouldn't worry about what it looks like inside. It is important to have sufficient humidity that the inner membrane doesn't dry and stiffen once pipped.
You should have a vent open because at this point they need more oxygen. What do the incubator instructions say?
You are right not to trust the reading on the incubator.

 

[AnjjEvans]

I wouldn't worry about what it looks like inside. It is important to have sufficient humidity that the inner membrane doesn't dry and stiffen once pipped.
You should have a vent open because at this point they need more oxygen. What do the incubator instructions say?
You are right not to trust the reading on the incubator.

I added water and got it bumped up to 68 now, have one of the two vents open. I think I'm going to run to the closest store and get a separate temp/humidity gage that i can stick through the vent to get a better reading, and be better prepared for next time.

The chick was making a lot of noise for a few hours but its quiet now and no movement (I was seeing its beak sticking out moving before) incubating is nerve wrecking