going into lockdown

[katzs]

i'm on day 18 day 19 starts at 930 tonight. i am so nervous. i only have 4 eggs in there and not sure what to look for when it comes to them having trouble.. i am worried maybe my humdity reader is off. and they will drown or not have enough humidity. or is the air cell large enough. the humidity has read between 30 and 40% for the first 18 days. yesterday i did raise it to 50% . i figure i will raise it to 65 - 70% today before i go to bed(i work midnights. and lockdown before going to bed.... when should i start to notice stuff happening? what do i watch for so i will know if they are in need of help? i also have 1 egg a day behind the others will this affect that egg? any help to calm my nerves is wanted...

 

[Egghead_Jr]

You can always perform a salt test on your humidity gauge. I do one prior to start of my hatching season.

You'll notice eggs wiggle as the chicks position in shell to pip. Hear a peep now and then after the chicks internally pip into the air sac. See a small hole in egg when chick pips the shell. Watch them rest and gasp for air through the small hole. Then they zip the shell, taking small chips off making a line around half the shell. Bust open the shell and lay there in bottom of incubator exhausted peeping away. Then they fluff out as dry and you can remove to brooder.

How I do a salt test:

Bottle cap/milk/juice cap size filled with salt.

Add drops of water until saturated. Pour off excess standing water.

Put hygrometer and cap into a zip seal sandwich or quart size bag. I provide a small pillow of air.

Wait at least 4 hours and take the humidity reading. A salt environment will be 75% RH.

Subtract your reading from 75 and write this calibration number on masking tape and stick to incubator as a reminder of what you need to add to or subtract from your reading for true RH.

Ex: Your reading is 81%; 75-81= -6. You'd always subtract 6 from your reading for true RH.

 

[katzs]

my thing im useing was bought for my moms greenhouse it stayed inside our house and another part was out in greenhouse then it read its temp. and it also reads our temp and humdity inside our house. i put that inside incubator. .... should i take it out and do the test then start lock down or just hope for the best

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I'm sure not all is lost and if I say hope for the best I think your still doing fine. I'll I'm saying is for the maximum in hatching results a well calibrated thermometer and hygrometer go a long way. Those are the two things that mean everything to a good hatch. Temperature is of course the most important. But for humidity which if way off is detrimental though usually people are well in a hatching zone. It's just for the best hatch rates you want a calibrated hygrometer. I gave you a method to do that above. You could easily use a gallon zip lock bag if size is an issue but wait 6 to 8 hours for calibration reading if using that big an area.

I'd use what you have and get things where you want them. 70%RH is a good place to be and try to achieve that with your device reading. Once done then do a calibration. And yes that remote device will fit in a quart size zip bag or gallon so all is well in the calibration of it side of things. Just get RH to lockdown and then take 4 to 6 hours to calibrate that device your using to rest assure and actually fine tune things.

Good Luck and it takes practice and fresh eggs from your own flock to get 100% hatching rates so don't worry much. Have fun and enjoy the hatchlings of your labor. Just know that with practice and calibrating your devices your hatch rate will get better.

 

[katzs]

Thank you very much