Humidity advice?

[ShayBaby]

So I just set 19 shipped eggs. All are tiny bantam eggs. All but 2 are very porous. (One shell cracked a bit..my mistake. Put nail polish on and hoped for the best.)
What humidity would seasoned hatchers recommend for small, highly porous eggs? I usually dry hatch around 25-30, but I'm not sure what eggs like this need. They would be more likely to lose moisture quicker, right? I have the humidity at 50 at the moment to be safe until I figure it out, but being a dry-hatcher, I feel that's way too high.

 

[Wyandottes7]

When I hatch small bantam eggs (some of which are porous), I keep the humidity during the first eighteen days of incubation at 50-60%. During the last three days, I raise it to about 70%.

I've never done incubation any different, so I don't know if bantam eggs would be fine with lower humidity. This is just what I do, and it works for me.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

When I hatch small bantam eggs (some of which are porous), I keep the humidity during the first eighteen days of incubation at 50-60%. During the last three days, I raise it to about 70%.

I've never done incubation any different, so I don't know if bantam eggs would be fine with lower humidity. This is just what I do, and it works for me.

It should work for everyone because this is close to now commercial hatcheries handle their eggs. They normally enjoy a pipping rate in the low 90% range, and have few deformed and still born chicks. After 18 days in a forced air incubator and the final 3 days in a dedicated hatcher set @ 70% humidity your chicks should pop out of their shells like they are fuzzy popcorn.

I know, to some of you this looks rougher than chicken sex but believe me when I say that chickens are many times tougher, stronger, and more resilient than you think that they are.

As an example of this. Original scientific research indicates that wood duck chicks hatched 50 feet or higher in a hollow tree and who then are forced to take the long plunge to Earth, bouncing from pillow to post or limb to limb just to reach the ground and keep up with their mother, live longer, grow faster, and do better than the wood duck chicks the same mama wood duck hatches out in a man made wood duck box. These latter chicks can just step out their front door like a scuba diver going for a swim and they only fall 6 feet or so to the water below. It could well be that the hatchery is doing these chicks a favor by handling them in this rough way.

 

[ShayBaby]

Thanks for the responses. I'm just concerned with the porosity of these guys. I'll keep the humidity high and hope for the best.

 

[yinepu]

So I just set 19 shipped eggs. All are tiny bantam eggs. All but 2 are very porous. (One shell cracked a bit..my mistake. Put nail polish on and hoped for the best.)
What humidity would seasoned hatchers recommend for small, highly porous eggs? I usually dry hatch around 25-30, but I'm not sure what eggs like this need. They would be more likely to lose moisture quicker, right? I have the humidity at 50 at the moment to be safe until I figure it out, but being a dry-hatcher, I feel that's way too high.

go with dry incubation for the beginning.. then candle the eggs at day 7 and check the air cells. Adjust the humidity IF the air cells are getting too big too fast

Let the eggs be your guide.. since the porosity is a concern the eggs will tell you if they need higher or lower humidity



the line by the day of incubation is where the bottom of the air cell should be on that day of incubation

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
Commercial hatcheries also have climate controlled rooms where the incubators and hatchers are. I know this for a fact since I have worked at several of them. Though ours were not as nicely automated as the one in the video (and I must admit that there are only a few hatcheries that ARE that automated simply because of cost.. but of course "how it's made" shows the fanciest they can find).. I can say that they eggs do undergo some rough handling by the guys that turn the trays by hand as they are going from incubator racks to hatcher trays.. The eggs they use also have not been shipped over hundreds of miles... the layer farms are usually within the same county of that particular state where the hatchery is located.. so travel damage to the eggs is minimal... unlike the average eggs from eBay that most of us end up with...

Also the rate of deformed chicks and rotten eggs is a bit higher than the video suggested.. It was common place to find several chicks with crossbeak, no eyes, missing beaks and extra limbs in each of the hatchery racks..

Granted we hatched out tens of thousands of chicks every day for the broiler industry .. but I can tell you that "hatchery settings" are NOT appropriate for the average person hatching out eggs in the average home.. simply because of the climate controlled building issue.. one other reason is that the average individual is hatching out eggs from several sources and doesn't own big layer barns where they know the porosity of the eggs.. With commercial hatcheries they usually have 100% control over the feed and general nutrition of the breeding flocks.. so can in essence control shell porosity by adjusting the minerals and nutrients in that given flock as needed.. when we order eggs from someone here or on ebay we are at the mercy of that person's feeding and quality control.. we may end up with eggs with nice shells from a healthy flock.. or even rotten old eggs that the seller figured they could make a few bucks off of

the best guide for humidity of any batch of eggs is the eggs themselves.. leave the commercial settings to the large hatcheries in the poultry industry with their climate controlled rooms and go with the settings that that particular batch of eggs calls for by simply monitoring the eggs..