How high is too high for the humidity during lockdown.

[Jmiller89]

I’m hatching guineas and using an incubator for the first I started at 74% humidity at lockdown. Now with two keets hatched it’s up to 88%. Is this too high?

 

[yakitori]

I’ve been told that if you have condensation on the glass then humidity is too high. That said, it’s normal for humidity to go up when the keet hatches. You can quickly crack open the lid, this should knock it down about 5-10%

 

[Jmiller89]

It does have condensation. And has had it ever since I added water to it... I will pop it open. Should I wipe off condensation?

 

[yakitori]

It does have condensation. And has had it ever since I added water to it... I will pop it open. Should I wipe off condensation?

are there other external pips? If no other external pips you can do some really quick house keeping.

If there are other pipped eggs, i would just open the incubator a crack then close it immediately, see how much humidity you can lower that way, then repeat and slowly work it down from there

 

[Jmiller89]

I think they have all pipped, one is almost zipped but it hasn’t made any progress in awhile. I was worried it was wrapped but don’t see how that can happen with the humidity so high. That egg got pushed into the corner so not sure if that’s why it’s having a hard time. I did end up opening it quickly and wiping one of the walls. Now I’m waiting to see what the humidity does... I don’t think I’m going to sleep much tonight...

 

[Jmiller89]

Does it look like this one is stuck?

 

[yakitori]

View attachment 2784857
Does it look like this one is stuck?

oh wow, how long has it been like that? it looks like it’s tried to zip. If it were a chick, I would peel back the shell over the airsac and see if it can push itself out. if not, I would attempt a full assist.

However....

I’ve read that keets generally hatch themselves just fine, so it’s your call.

How’s the humidity now?

I didn’t sleep much during my first two hatches either

 

[Jmiller89]

oh wow, how long has it been like that? it looks like it’s tried to zip. If it were a chick, I would peel back the shell over the airsac and see if it can push itself out. if not, I would attempt a full assist.

However....

I’ve read that keets generally hatch themselves just fine, so it’s your call.

How’s the humidity now?

I didn’t sleep much during my first two hatches either

It’s been a couple hours, like that. Do you think it would service if I left it until morning? We opened the incubator and moved the two eggs away from the side and to the middle. Humidity dropped to 80 but is climbing again...

 

[yakitori]

It’s been a couple hours, like that. Do you think it would service if I left it until morning? We opened the incubator and moved the two eggs away from the side and to the middle. Humidity dropped to 80 but is climbing again...

80% is plenty, see if you can bring it down to 70%. It will doubtlessly climb again when another hatches.
I would assist now if it had already started zipping then stopped. Take off just the shell over the air sac. Do not try to peel the membrane yet!

moisten the membrane with coconut oil or triple antibiotic cream (without pain relief), being careful to avoid the nostrils.

If you see lots of boood vessels, then its not ready, and for whatever reason, had broken off more shell in the pip. In that case put it back.

If the chick is making chewing motions, and isn’t moving its body, it’s probably still absorbing yolk... put it back.

If the membrane appears like clear saran wrap, and the keets is making an active effort to get out, then you can start to slowly work away at the membrane, starting from the pip hole.

 

[yakitori]

And if you haven’t already, read this... it provides fantastically detailed instructions on assisted hatches...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/