getting humidity right

[dadsgirl]

having bad success with hatches, what is the correct humidity for the first 18 days, and then for the last 3 final days??

i live in florida , having only close to half hatching, anyone have any suggestions??
thanks, angie

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Are your eggs shipped or your own? That will make a huge difference in your hatch rate.

There are various thoughts on the humidity issue. Here is a link to an article about "dry incubating".

https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html

I'm in Florida too and even with our a/c on at 77 degrees all the time, the humidity in my house is between 47 and 51% most of the time. During the first 18 days, I rarely add any water to the bator...only when it gets below about 27%. At day 18, I stop turning, but I don't increase the humidity until I see the first pip. Then I add water and bring the humidity to about 55-60%...no more than that.

When I first started hatching eggs, I had lots of heavy, water logged eggs on day 21 with many drown fully formed chicks. Since I've started dry incubating, my hatch rate has gone up a lot.

If you decide to do it the traditional way, your humidity should be between 40 and 45% days 1 - 18 and about 50-55% days 19 - end of hatch.