Help with Humidity

Corsicanz

Hatching
Oct 16, 2020
8
0
7
Hi, this is my first time incubating eggs and I only just came across your article on relative humidity and how to check air cells.... So, my chicken eggs are at day 13.... all 14 eggs show active signs of life..... But air cells appear to be closer to the day 7 illustration than day 14....... I have a Borotto sirio humidity controller (might have been a waste of money cause I can't seem to set it below 40%H) It has been set at 45% since day one and periodically RH goes higher (46% to 50%) Am I to assume since the air cells are too small that the humidity is too high and is it too late to help this hatch? I could pull the cords on that humidity controller ..... but my hygrometer won't fit in the incubator properly so I'll have to guess at humidity. My incubator is a borotto 16...If I remove the humidity controller... Mfg. recommends filling the front tub for the first 18 days (which should allow for 45% humidity according to them) and then filling the back tub in addition to the front tub for lockdown (to achieve 65%) IF I'm able to decrease humidity by pulling out all water source... how far down should I go? ANY assistance would be GREATLY appreciated!
 
Honestly, I was worried about my air cells being too small my first hatch as they seemed quite a bit behind all the diagrams, but all the eggs had no problem hatching and the air cells grew a lot the last couple of days. I try not to mess with the humidity too much and have never dry hatched as some people suggest. Next time you candle, could you trace the air cell line on an egg with a pencil and take a photo? Are they your eggs or bought? My eggs were really hardy and from my own stock, so I haven’t had any problems with them yet over a number of incubations - more finicky eggs can be more sensitive to humidity, so others who have trouble-shooted these same problems might have more useful advice.
 
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i dont have alot of experience but from what ive seen humidity usually isnt an issue and just about every other factor is more critical from time elapsed to set, how eggs are handled, how they are turned, to temps.. you do need some water present in the incubator and if your anywhere around 50% humidity i wouldnt even think about air cell size .. at lockdown try to get it real high, thats the biggest concern, so they dont get stuck trying to get out once the membrane is broken .. and dont freak out when they pip, it can take a couple of days or even alittle more, dont try to 'help' them, let them do their thing .. keep an eye on that temp, it can fluctuate and imo becomes more critical around hatch time, you dont want them to chill when its real humid and air blowing around in their ..
 
Thank You for your help! Eggs are from our own chickens.... they range from light brown to dark (ISAs, Golden Comet, Black Copper Marans, Noir Marans) I have lowered the Humidity monitor to 40% (as low as the controller will go)...... I could remove it and try to tape a hygrometer into the egg turning tray and then just add minimal water to water tray? Otherwise humidity won't come down? Sorry pictures aren't better :hmm Flash made eggs lighter They were taken today (day 13) pencil marks are from today too.
 

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They do look small for 14 days, but I find they grow a lot the last week. Try to maintain humidity so it’s around or a bit under 50% and you should be ok as long as the eggs are healthy. Where do you live and do you know what the ambient humidity is? That sometimes doesn’t help with stabilizing humidity.
 
Thank you for the help! I did reduce the humidity to 40% (it was the lowest I could go as I opted to continue to use the automatic humidity machine) from days 14 to 18. Candled the eggs again on day 18.... Of the 14 eggs.... The air cell size on maybe half of them had grown considerably and on the other half minimally, but all 14 eggs showed clear signs of life. The manufacturer recommends rotating the location of the eggs every 5 days during incubation and I did not do that. I believe the ones with the least amount of air cell growth may have been the ones closest to the heat source, so perhaps I should have heeded the recommendation to rotate them. On day 18, I increased humidity to 60% and began lockdown... By day 20 we had many pips and today, day 21 we've had five healthy hatches.... 1 Noir Marans(dark egg), 1 Black Copper Marans(the darkest and tiniest egg in the hatch), and 4 ISAs....
 

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