Help with incubating at altitude (first-timer)

Jodi_in_Colorado

Chirping
Mar 28, 2021
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Hi all! I just registered to see if I could get some help with incubating. We have our own hens and roosters and are trying to incubate our own eggs. We bought a Kebonnixs 12 egg incubator that auto turns and regulates humidity and temperature. We also live at around 6000 feet in the high desert. The first attempt was 10 eggs. I struggled with getting the humidity right. Using just the first reservoir (you are only supposed to use the first for the first 18 days then overflow to the second) I couldn't reliably keep our humidity above 40%. I also had to close our vent to the minimum recommended opening. All of the chicks arrested at around day 7. This round I started with 12. I decided to open the vent fully since we are at altitude and to compensate I filled both reservoirs. The humidity is now around 58-60%, which I know is likely too high, although some places you read tell you to increase at altitude. I candled today at day 14 and I can only say for sure that we have 1 alive (dancing around like crazy). I already tossed 5 previously. I would say at BEST we have 3 still alive and that's only because with our dark eggs it's anyone's guess. It looks like again we have lost quite a few in the 7-10 day range. We have the temp at 99.5 and it seems pretty stable and we open it only to candle every few days. Any words of advice?

Thank you so much!
 
Not sure if you've found this article but I found it comprehensive:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/incubating-eggs-at-high-altitudes

One thing it did say, and I wondered the same thing, is that chickens who live at higher altitudes can make their eggs fit with the conditions they live in, decreasing the porosity of the eggshell. The main issue with high altitudes it would seem is the reduction in oxygen available to the eggs and the higher the altitude the more this affects the hatchability of the eggs.

It may be a case of incubating a few times trying different settings to figure out what parameters are the best for your situation. Maybe try smaller hatches so the eggs aren't competing so much for the available oxygen, or a different humidity etc.

It would be interesting if you had a broody to see if she had more success than an incubator too.

The best way to ensure your humidity is correct is to weigh the eggs with a gram scale. You can weigh them all together and work out the average. Weigh them before setting and they should lose around 12% of their start weight by the time they are ready to hatch. You can plot this on a simple line graph with the weight range you'll need up the side and the days from 0-21 along the bottom. On day 0 mark the average start weight. On day 21 mark the expected weight once they've lost 12%. Then draw a straight line between those two points and on any day you can reweigh and see if they are on track for their weight loss. It doesn't have to be exact - as long as they are near that line they are ok.

I sure hope you do get a few chicks from your hatch. :fl
 
Not sure if you've found this article but I found it comprehensive:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/incubating-eggs-at-high-altitudes

One thing it did say, and I wondered the same thing, is that chickens who live at higher altitudes can make their eggs fit with the conditions they live in, decreasing the porosity of the eggshell. The main issue with high altitudes it would seem is the reduction in oxygen available to the eggs and the higher the altitude the more this affects the hatchability of the eggs.

It may be a case of incubating a few times trying different settings to figure out what parameters are the best for your situation. Maybe try smaller hatches so the eggs aren't competing so much for the available oxygen, or a different humidity etc.

It would be interesting if you had a broody to see if she had more success than an incubator too.

The best way to ensure your humidity is correct is to weigh the eggs with a gram scale. You can weigh them all together and work out the average. Weigh them before setting and they should lose around 12% of their start weight by the time they are ready to hatch. You can plot this on a simple line graph with the weight range you'll need up the side and the days from 0-21 along the bottom. On day 0 mark the average start weight. On day 21 mark the expected weight once they've lost 12%. Then draw a straight line between those two points and on any day you can reweigh and see if they are on track for their weight loss. It doesn't have to be exact - as long as they are near that line they are ok.

I sure hope you do get a few chicks from your hatch. :fl
Thanks for the tips! I like the idea of starting with a smaller number. That makes sense. I considered drilling another hole in the incubator but not sure how that will impact temperatures. Weighing sounds like a great idea. Thanks again!
 
Thank you!! I have 2 alive at T minus 4 days. One of them is rocking and rolling. Air cells seem way too small so I lowered the humidity until lockdown Fingers crossed! I'll check those links for the next go round!
 
hey jodie i agree to leave the vent hole open as much as possible and try to achieve the right humidity via the trays or even additional cups like shot glasses or similar.

But even 60% humidity is not going to be a factor imo in chicks dying before day 10. The humidity will not influence their development much, just the eggs overall water loss.

So I would highly recommend you get another thermometer, none are ever calibrated perfectly so it is hard to recommend one but a lot of people are getting a govee based on its reliability. I have a few myself and they are good.

Even though your thermometer was showing a constant temperature which is good can you be absolutely sure that temperature is the correct temperature?

My incubator has its sensor near the heat source but every incubator is different, on mine being close to the heat source it is set far warmer there than it is by the eggs, the further the sensor is the lower it needs to be set in order to achieve the right temperature around the eggs.

It is far harder to achieve a uniform temperature throughout the whole incubator than you'd think. Temperature dictates the speed of development and will be the reason eggs don't make it most of the time.

Another way to look at it is that temperature provides the energy the egg needs to develop, humidity will do nothing more than to dictate the eggs water loss so althogh it is important to have it roughly in the right range it is not as important to get it right as temperature is. I'm not saying to get it wrong but you seem to be focused on the wrong thing too much. Get both humidity and temperature sorted or you'll just face the same issue again.
 
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