high humidity and stopped turning for part of incubation Please help!

[4honey]

I have a question about humidity.
I was hoping my Serama would go broody, but,it didn't happen and in a panic, I popped (6) eggs in the incubator with two already in there. They were auto turned for 7 days,then, it was lockdown for the others,which I did on Friday. Increased the humidity to 65-70%,and stopped the turner. I did sneak in to turn the Serama eggs on Saturday, then got nervous about it and stopped.(after all, the older guys were in there first). One baby hatched on Monday,the other Tuesday noon. After dry off, I moved them both to the brooder and plugged the turner in immediately. Whew! I candled the Serama eggs, and every one was fertile.
My question is, will the high humidity stay with the eggs til hatch ,should I let the humidity decrease naturally and go for a " dry hatch" which I've never done before or, should I follow protocol and up humidity once again at lockdown? I've swabbed out one channel because the humidity is staying at 55% and it's still at 55% ( if it's accurate). The digital one that you put inside is a bear to read and now I'm wondering about accuracy! I'm going to get one with a probe that stays outside. This ones driving me bonkers! You look at it at a different angle and get a different reading!
I've turned all the eggs up on end,crossed my fingers,said a prayer......my mistake, I just don't want them to pay for my foolishness!(ya know, hindsite)!
Anyone out there have any experience, advice, etc. about this ? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Kedreeva]

What you're attempting is called a staggered hatch. I have done a few of these and it's usually best to leave the turner on until you actually see pips. I just take a few racks out to give the hatchers space, and lay them on the grate. It would be best if your humidity is low after the period of high humidity, if you have time between the first hatch and the second lockdown's start, but don't let your lockdown dry out because the membranes still need moisture whether the air cell is the proper size or not.

The reason humidity is kept at lower levels through incubation is to allow some liquid loss from inside the egg, expanding the air cell and making sure the chick will not drown in fluids while pipping the membrane or immediately after. With staggered hatches, you always run the risk of losing some to the humidity spikes but you did the right thing protecting the original two eggs first, imo.

 

[4honey]

Thanks so much for the pearls, Kedreeva! will do my best to dry out the incubator. Lockdown is scheduled for the 25th.
I'm afraid of drowning the babes! When I candled, though they seemed to have the right sized airsacs,but, could they be filled with liquid?
Now that the first guys are safe, I'll do my best for these!
With your staggered hatch, what did you do about the humidity?

 

[Kedreeva]

The first staggered hatch I did the eggs were only a couple days apart, so I locked down first group and then locked down the second right after. with the second, the groups were a week apart, and I lowered the humidity between lockdowns to as dry as it ever gets in michigan. It didn't really end up mattering... the person who stored the chicken eggs first, stored them in her 100 degree barn for 2-3 days before I picked them up and left them to settle overnight in my 60 degree basement... only found out later where she'd stored them, when the entire hatch was dead at 2-3 days growth *facepalm* But the ducks didn't have a problem, they were the others in that stagger.