Help!! Please?? Updated page 3 post 27

[Egghead_Jr]

Also if you have a tested hygrometer to throw in there quickly (quick open and shut is'nt going to hurt anything) it would verify excessive humidity or relax you. If too high you can crack the top to allow it to drop to 65% then close it.

 

[newchickens2009]

Quote:
I have never hatched with outside temps this low before and had the same idea so I turned on the heat this morning and brought the temp up to 77 which is our normal a/c setting in summer.
I will check the hygrometer and if no good will discharge and but a new one on ebay. Thanks for the info!

 

[newchickens2009]

Quote:
I thought I had another hygrometer but after checking it it is only a tempture guage.

 

[Hanna101]

If you tilt bator slightly to one side the wator droplets will hopefully run to one side giving you a good veiw. Good luck ps Tilt and tap lightly on window

 

[HEChicken]

I would say your gauge is definitely not working. If you have condensation the humidity has to be higher than 45%. I have both a Springfield and an Acu-Rite in mine and I am far from impressed with the Acu-Rite. The Springfield calibrated to read humidity perfectly and has read consistently and apparently accurately throughout incubation and now hatching. Meanwhile, the Acu-Rite was fine until I upped humidity in lockdown. Then for awhile the read out faded to be barely legible (despite having batteries that are less than 2 weeks old), then returned to visible except that its fluctuating up and down constantly. And the print keeps fading in and out too. I know a lot of people despise the Springfields but I am happiest with mine of all the ones I've tried.

 

[Fluffy-Butt-Farms]

ok, i've done it both ways when that's happened. i've opened it up to let moisture out, and i've left it alone. same results either way. supposedly, if it's that humid, a chick has a chance to drown. i havent had that happen. if you open your bator, you're pulling moisture out of the eggs as well. i do open my hatcher, but that is because i constantly have eggs going in and out. and when i open it, i always add more hot water to it.

my advice would be to leave it alone. the worst that will happen is your chicks wont dry, and you can pull them and put them under the light in dry bedding and they'll dry within an hour.

if, after you do it this way, you dont like the results, then next time, open it up.

also... if you're using a digital, it very well may be more humid in there then it's reading. sounds stupid, but i finally went and got a non digital off of ebay from someone in england because i was sick of having to replace digitals when they went haywire. it's in celsius, but very very accurate, and very easy to read (it's a big 4 inch circle, temp on top, humidity on bottom)


remember, mother nature isnt perfect, and i have yet to see a fan or a humidity gauge on a chickens ass.

 

[newchickens2009]

Ok so here's the update..... At 5:00pm I had to remove the 26 that were dry and get them to some water. While doing so I never heard any chirps or saw any movement sooooooooo...... I decieded to take it upon myself and see what was going on. I carefully opened 4 that had piped but not zipped and all 4 were dead. I then decieded to open the rest (9) that had not even piped and 5 were full of water and 4 were dry has a desert. All of them were covered in a very thick white film that I had to very carefully puncture with a knife to start the peeling process.
What I looking for now is some advice on what I might have done wrong so that I can better my next hatch.

Here is what took place: On days 1-18 temps floated between 97.2 and 99.9 I just couldn't get them to stay steedy. Humidty was at 32% and I would had water when it fell to 20% or below. At day 18 after lockdown temp steedied at 99.2 and humidity at 45%, that is until I noticed on day 19 when they started to pip that the guages were not working correctly. That is when I got all this great advice on what to do from all you great friends on here and I am now asking for more of that great advice on what I should do for future hatches?
Thanks in advance and I am SOOOOOOOO thankful for your help and support!!!!
May God truely bless you all!!!!!

 

[blaundee]

aw, I'm sorry!!!

 

[Fluffy-Butt-Farms]

you probably didnt do anything. honestly, i add water to my incubator when i remember. my incubator doesnt have a humidity gauge. i just try to remember to add water at least once if not twice a week. and i get awesome hatches. not all eggs will hatch. there are times that when i get some not hatched, i peek, and same thing, either really wet, or really dry. i think it's just nature. you cant save them all. thank god you got so many out. if your digital was haywire thru the whole process, that could have something to do with it. get a new one, and see if your hatch improves. that may be the only thing that happened. i know my digital, it started reading 100.1 and never moved. when i put a new one in, 100.1 was really 104.

 

[newchickens2009]

Thank you "Fluffy" for the incourageing words. You are right about being thankfull for how many I did get, thank you Lord! Overall it was about a 75% hatch, I just hate to see so many chicks all developed and not make it out of the shell and die on which I would guess to be the last day or so. But like you said I guess thats just nature and there's nothing we can do about it God is always in control.
Once again thanks to all my wonderful friends on BYC and God bless!!