I have been reading this website for days! What a great place to be able to come get help and encouragement from people that have seen it, lived it and can tell about it!
There is a ton of info here to digest and I'm doing all that I can to make sure we have a successful hatch, but I'm worried I've made a few too many mistakes and they will die in their shells. My temps during the incubation time were set at 99 and humidity average has been around 58%. This is a homemade incubator with a fan. At lockdown, I turned the temp setting down to 98 and increased the humidity, trying to get it to reach 80%, with no avail, and cut the fan off because it had no cover and the ducklings could get hurt if they hit it. I finally quit messing with it and left the humidity as high as I could get it (average 74%). It has been a struggle to keep the humidity up and I have had to open the door to add paper towel wicks and cloth to boost it back up. In the process the eggs have been misted as well. (After reading a ton yesterday, I see that was probably not a good idea now.) I did candle them before lockdown and all looked great and were alive. We had 6 wiggling eggs two days ago and yesterday expected to see something, pips, but nothing. Should I do anything? I am so afraid they are going to die in their shells. (We lost 3 in the shell, perfectly formed our first time trying incubation.) Will the misting cause them harm? Should I gently candle them to check on them? Help, please.
There is a ton of info here to digest and I'm doing all that I can to make sure we have a successful hatch, but I'm worried I've made a few too many mistakes and they will die in their shells. My temps during the incubation time were set at 99 and humidity average has been around 58%. This is a homemade incubator with a fan. At lockdown, I turned the temp setting down to 98 and increased the humidity, trying to get it to reach 80%, with no avail, and cut the fan off because it had no cover and the ducklings could get hurt if they hit it. I finally quit messing with it and left the humidity as high as I could get it (average 74%). It has been a struggle to keep the humidity up and I have had to open the door to add paper towel wicks and cloth to boost it back up. In the process the eggs have been misted as well. (After reading a ton yesterday, I see that was probably not a good idea now.) I did candle them before lockdown and all looked great and were alive. We had 6 wiggling eggs two days ago and yesterday expected to see something, pips, but nothing. Should I do anything? I am so afraid they are going to die in their shells. (We lost 3 in the shell, perfectly formed our first time trying incubation.) Will the misting cause them harm? Should I gently candle them to check on them? Help, please.
And Welcome to BYC! 
