HELP!!!! Humidity all wrong!!!

[cmom]

I put another hygrometer in the incubator and it reads 31% for the humidity. My other hygrometer apparently is not working correctly. I candled a couple eggs and they look great, developing nicely.

 

[cmom]

The 3 days at the end are more important while they are hatching so they don't stick while zipping.

But yes, it is possible for them to hatch without increasing the humidity, it happens plenty, usually by accident, folks forget to add water.

I had some chicks hatch in my incubator instead of a hatcher because I marked the wrong week on my calendar. I took some eggs out thinking they were quitters and put them in a open egg carton. I went in to check the hatchers to see if any had hatched and heard peeping but not coming from the hatcher. The eggs I took out as quitters had hatched in the egg carton. I put an X on the eggs I think are quitters.

 

[ChickNanny13]

 

[vivaciouswoman]

I had some chicks hatch in my incubator instead of a hatcher because I marked the wrong week on my calendar. I took some eggs out thinking they were quitters and put them in a open egg carton. I went in to check the hatchers to see if any had hatched and heard peeping but not coming from the hatcher. The eggs I took out as quitters had hatched in the egg carton. I put an X on the eggs I think are quitters.
View attachment 1425578 View attachment 1425579

WOW!!! Amazing, how resilient life can be!!

 

[vivaciouswoman]

Okay, here we are at the end of Day 18, and as I candle, I see so much fluid left in there! I PRAY we are heading for a 23-day hatch!!!

Here are the eggs all laid out. That’s right, folks, those pencil marks are from DAY 18!!! No way I’m humidifying until pips, and if it’s a single pip, I might just try misting the baby.

This is 4 days of knocking myself out to correct the humidity. Not great. Remember that the largest portions of the air cell are facing up for the camera! And, yes, that is a bowl of silica crystal desiccant you see there. It gets regularly stirred and replaced. It does help bring down RH about 5 points, which may not sound like much, but I'll take it. It will be gone the moment I get a pip, of course! But in the meantime, I'm taking every opportunity to suck humidity out of there!

The eggs at the top were the sanitized eggs. I started with 12, so I’m at 83% survival with those so far. The bottom are with bloom intact. Starting with 30, that puts me at 77% survival for those. Not a huge difference so far.

 

[vivaciouswoman]

OMG, I feel like I’m pregnant again. Seriously, I just felt a baby kicking in me for a moment! Whoa!! (No—it is not possible! It's just gas. I'm a gas!)

 

[ChickNanny13]

 

[WVduckchick]

Yep, those are some small air cells. But we still have hope!
Have you considered if you will assist or not, if they struggle to hatch? May not be a bad time to think about it.

I just had another random thought. I forgot what temperature you have been running, but a small decrease in temp may also give them a little extra time. Not drastic, just a half degree or so. I've never tried it, but reducing temp is common for ducklings, and we know that lower temps will cause delays. Hmmm I'd have to research it more, if it were me, but thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[cmom]

I have put washed eggs and unwashed eggs in my incubator in the past and saw no difference in the hatch rate. I had to experiment.

 

[vivaciouswoman]

Yep, those are some small air cells. But we still have hope!
Have you considered if you will assist or not, if they struggle to hatch? May not be a bad time to think about it.

I just had another random thought. I forgot what temperature you have been running, but a small decrease in temp may also give them a little extra time. Not drastic, just a half degree or so. I've never tried it, but reducing temp is common for ducklings, and we know that lower temps will cause delays. Hmmm I'd have to research it more, if it were me, but thought I'd throw it out there.

Great minds think alike! I turned the heat down a quarter turn. My hygrometer measures in integers only, so I can't tell exactly where I am, but I've been 99-100 throughout and I turned it down a tad so that it stays at 99. Yup--trying to give these babies a little more time!