Hatching problems and Dry hatch humidity of 19%?

[BobcatKen]

This will be my 3rd time hatching out chicken eggs for my second grade classroom. Last year I hatched out 11 out of 20 eggs. 3 of these were born with deformed feet and couldn't walk properly. Of the eggs that didn't hatch, most had development at some stage with some having what appeared to be fully formed chicks. Based on what I've read I suspect that improper humidity levels may have contributed to their hatching failure. I did have water in my styrofoam Hovabator incubator but I think the fluctuating humidity levels weren't appropriate. Another factor that contributed to the poor hatch rate was that we may have taken newly hatched chicks prematurely out of the incubator as the others were about to hatch. Any other ideas on what could have gone wrong?

This year I want to try the dry hatch method. I am running the Hovabator tonight and trying to set it for 100 degrees. I have the auto turner inside and it seem to be working well. The digital temperature/humidity gauge indicates that humidity is at 19%. Is this too low?

I am planning to put eggs in the incubator during school tomorrow morning. Any info or advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[NancyP]

Hi, Your humidity level is such a subjective thing. I would try for between 20-30 percent humidity myself.It seems to vary from person to person what works best. As for the deformities it could be temp or maybe just the genetics of the stock you started with. Wishing you the best of luck hatching.
Nancy

 

[naturesluxuries]

Humidity needs to be around 55% during incubation and 65% during lockdown. Some people do a drier incubation then during lockdown aim for 70-75%. The first is usually the most recommended. Deformities can also be caused by not turning the eggs daily during the first 18 days. They kind of stick to a certain part of the egg if they are not turned, at the very least, 2 times a day. This is all I have been learning from research. I am sure more people will answer that have more hands on experience but this is what has worked for me. I have several coming out of their shells as I type. Good luck

 

[babsbag]

I think that might be a little low. Did you calibrate your hygrometer to make sure it is correct? I ran mine at about 30-35 the first 18 days and then up to 65-75 the last 3 days. When I opened the incubator during lockdown I would mist the inside of the incubator with warm water. It might not be ideal, but it worked. I had all my viable eggs hatch and it was my first time. You can also weigh the eggs, they should lose about 12-14% over the course of the incubation. If the humidity is too high they don't lose enough moisture and the air cells will be smaller. When the chicks pip internally they drown.

Also, if you have a chick that has pipped you need to make sure that the humidity does not drop or the membrane on the pipped egg can dry out and shrink wrap the baby.

Here are a couple of links might help you figure out what is going on. I have an eighth grade science teacher that wants me to hatch some out next year for her class. I am a little worried about the weekends and not being there to keep an eye on things. I think I might set up a web cam so I can at least see the thermometer from home. Good luck, you are a brave person to do this with all those little eyes watching you.

Hope it goes well for you and the kids.

http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/poultry_pipped.html

http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/pdf/troubleshooting_incubation.pdf

 

[debilorrah]

YES!!! A "dry" hatch is between 30-40%..... 19% is way too low.

 

[Surehatch]

Humidity needs to be around 55% during incubation and 65% during the last couple days. Humidity is critical for successful incubation

 

[goldnchocolate]

I kept my humidity at approx 25% during incubation and then upped it to approx 65% during lockdown. I had 20 chicks hatch and a 2 died by "shrinkwrapping"

because I opened the incubator (only for a few seconds) to help a chick that had pipped too high up and couldn't pop it's top. Hind sight is 20-20....I should have left the struggling chick alone because it isn't a very healthy chick and then the other 2 that died may have had a better chance.

I had 3 thermometer/hygrometers in there and they all showed a different reading

so I just sort of averaged the amounts of temp and humidity.

 

[BobcatKen]

Thanks for all the responses. We'll try to minimize humidity and temperature fluctuations. Hopefully we'll have a better hatch rate this time. Fortunately I only need to just have a couple chicks hatch to have this experiment considered a "success" in the minds of the children. I will explain to the children that artificial incubation can be more difficult than natural means.