HELP!!!! Humidity all wrong!!!

[WVduckchick]

Well, we are trying to preserve the DNA of the only tailless Ameraucana that has ever come from Townline Hatcheries, so hopefully Daddy is Ameraucana on all/most of these. But mommies are all over the board. As many Ameraucana eggs as I could get, but I put in the first 42 eggs I could find as soon as he was killed. So, mostly Ameraucana, but some mixes.

To further complicate things, some of my eggs were covered with poo. No, I mean reeeeeeealy covered! I've incubated eggs with a little poop on them successfully, so I'm not a neat freak. These were BAD, so I went ahead and sterilized those 14. They're all in the same incubator together--unwashed and sterilized. I'm guessing the sterilized will respond to drying faster than the unwashed. Hmmmm.

Oh wow! Now I really wish you luck!

LOVE YOUR ARTICLE!!!! So helpful! Question: the video you have there--about how many days along is that?

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words!

Do you mean the little moving image at the bottom? I think its around day 12.

 

[ldawntaylor]

I had dry rice spread out on a lid for a while. I wouldn't leave it there thru lockdown though.

 

[vivaciouswoman]

Oooo--this from another thread at https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-reduce-the-humidity-in-my-incubator.698082/
From @howfunkyisurchicken
"You can add some paper towels or rice filled socks to suck up some extra moisture "

Ho ho! Great idea!

 

[WVduckchick]

One more question: the RH here in my area of Michigan is naturally 50-70%. Is there anything I can do to get my RH lower than that in the incubator? Physicist here--I understand that raising the temp will change the saturation point, thus effecting the RH. But I'm wondering if there's a way to further reduce humidity in there--actually remove moisture from the air. The only thing coming to mind is silica packets, but I don't know if I have enough of those (or where they are right now...). Thoughts? Especially @WVduckchick

I've seen folks try things like bowls of rice, silica gel, etc. I don't think anything is overly successful. Maybe a dehumidifier in the room? And definitely dry out the incubator completely.

We successfully help duck eggs lose more moisture by using a fine mist, once a day. Oddly as the mist evaporates, it helps pull more moisture from inside the egg. I've never tried it on chicken eggs though.

 

[vivaciouswoman]

I've seen folks try things like bowls of rice, silica gel, etc. I don't think anything is overly successful. Maybe a dehumidifier in the room? And definitely dry out the incubator completely.

We successfully help duck eggs lose more moisture by using a fine mist, once a day. Oddly as the mist evaporates, it helps pull more moisture from inside the egg. I've never tried it on chicken eggs though.

Interesting!! Anyone else try this???

 

[chickens really]

Hello...Remove all your eggs from the incubator and dump out all water. Dry out the incubator and then put eggs back in. Nothing will interfere in the hatching..Add water to the incubator till it reaches the right humidity. I go for 40%..

 

[ChickNanny13]

Thank you @WVduckchick for peeping in

 

[Rebel58]

One more question: the RH here in my area of Michigan is naturally 50-70%. Is there anything I can do to get my RH lower than that in the incubator? Physicist here--I understand that raising the temp will change the saturation point, thus effecting the RH. But I'm wondering if there's a way to further reduce humidity in there--actually remove moisture from the air. The only thing coming to mind is silica packets, but I don't know if I have enough of those (or where they are right now...). Thoughts? Especially @WVduckchick

Place a bowl of uncooked rice to absorb moisture.

 

[vivaciouswoman]

Yay!!
Duckie finally flopped out of her egg at 8pm with a little help. She had made her 'egg cap' a little too small and was bent over like a taco trying to get out of this too small hole butt first. She was all messed up in there, but looked perfect once we made it easier for her to get out on her own. *whew!*

So after all that worry... a 100% hatch rate was obtained.

Yay!!

Boy did I learn a lot. I don't know if I can exactly put it into words, what *exactly* I learned. But I learned that all that stuff I read in the books was pretty much all crap. Ugghh... I really want some good information here. But as we all know it's from our own experience and personal journey that we learn the MOST valuable information.


Thanks SO much for your support! I really appreciate it!!
Good Luck on your hatch- I hope you get a super high hatch rate!

p.s. Any thoughts on that hen pictured above? What is she? Thx

You can add some paper towels or rice filled socks to suck up some extra moisture

So, it looks like there have been other threads with similar problems. I've read and read and read, and @calichickies (who is no longer active on here) seems to have made a DRASTIC change in air cell size in just a few days. But I'm not clear on exactly how he/she did that. I'm reading! I've got socks filled with rice in the 'Bater right now and also some paper towels. I'll swap them out regularly. I've turned on the a/c in the house to try to reduce ambient humidity. I'm going to go to a craft store tonight to get desiccant granules. Fingers crossed. Any other words of wisdom?

 

[ChickNanny13]

You're doing all you possible can Keep us posted