High Altitude and Incubation

[RainForestBird]

Anyone experienced at high altitude hatching? The humidity here is very low as I am in the high desert at over 5000 feet. My still air incubator has gone wacko with wide temperature fluctuations. It fried 3 dozen eggs, with temps soaring to 106 F on a day that started at 99.5 F. No sun, temps were no more than 63 degrees. Also the incubators suck down the water. I have two others that have internal hygrometers, I also have a thermometer / hygrometer with a probe that I move around to make sure everything is ok. They are constantly running, the noise is driving me crazy. I'm wondering if incubating eggs at this altitude is a lost cause. I am very worried about my Svart Hona eggs that appear to have chicks in them but I won't take the top off the incubator because the humidity will drop. I have a black copper Maran that pipped but never made it out of the shell, I couldn't even break the shell it was so hard. I water candled eggs about a week ago and 2/3 were not viable. I am really hoping the Svart Hona will hatch because they all had chicks in them. Also, chicks that I have in the brooder are constantly running out of water and very loud when thirsty. I am tempted to put them in a coop with heater so I can give them a larger waterer. Any tips and tricks for high altitude and dry climate would be helpful. The static electricity here is also very bad. Every day is a bad hair day.

 

[red horse ranch]

I'm at around 4700' in a semi-arid climate. It's not uncommon to have 5 to 10% humidity in the summer when I'm incubating. One thing that has helped me is having a humidifier in the room.I have it plugged into a timer so it comes on 3 or 4 times a day and runs for half hour or so. I keep the door to the room shut. During the hatch I may have it on an hour and off an hour. I also have a sponge in the incubator where I can lift the lid slightly and keep adding water to the sponge.
Your altitude shouldn't be that much of a problem because I have friends who live over 5000' and they hatch regularly without problems.