humidity and candling Q's

[ejctm]

My eggs are in a brinsea eco and i cannot get the humidity to stabilise. It wants to be around 60% all the time and i can only lower by running it completely dry and it goes down to 40%. They are on day 9 and this is my first time. Is there anything i can do to get it to stay at 50%
And will the eggs be affected by too high humidity in the early days?

We candled today for the first time. Only 3 of the 9 were obviously viable and the other 6 i am just not sure about. How much longer should i give them before i give up on them?

 

[CayleeMarie03]

You could probably candle them again at day 14-15 and will definitaly know.

 

[ejctm]

Thanks Caylee. I will do that.

Anyone with advice on the humidity issue?

 

[SilverDuck284]

Ducks or chickens? I don't think 40% is too low, if it stays there without added water I think you will be fine until lockdown. Then bump it up to 75% (85% for ducks, I think) during the hatch.

 

[ejctm]

It is for chickens.
how do I adjust the humidity during lockdown, especially reduce it if I cannot open the incubator? I could increase by slipping something wet into the lid, but if too high?

 

[SilverDuck284]

Just add moisture little by little until you reach your target. Get it up to about 80% and then just add a little, like a teaspoon, when it falls to 70%. If it gets too high open a vent or crack the lid for a few seconds. But I would only do that if it stays above 90% for more than an hour.

 

[SilverDuck284]

How are your eggs doing? I would love an update if you get a chance!

 

[ejctm]

Thanks for the advice.

We are at day 14 today. I will candle tonight and try and make a decision about which ones are alive and growing as I was only sure about 3 of the 9 last week. I bought a new torch today with a rubber seal around the light which I think will work well.

The humidity has still fluctuated between 40% and 60% (lower when no water, highest with a little trickle of water). I don't think I will have any problem getting it up for lockdown, it is just making sure it is not too high now and also then. There is no vent to open, and the whole thing has to be opened to add water.

Is this the incubator or the eggs? I mean, is the incubator a particularly wet one, or are the eggs giving off lots of moisture, and what does this mean for the hatch? If the eggs do not lose enough moisture or lose too much?

OMG I cannot believe what a science it is to get it right when artificially hatching compared to the wonderful natural instincts of a broody hen who makes sure temp and humidity are perfect just by sitting on them!

 

[SilverDuck284]

Its probably more your area than anything else. Before the next batch try moving it to different rooms to see if it changes. I am doing dry incubation, the humidity stays between 20-30% which is fine! I've read the minimum is 20% before lockdown, so I don't think you have to worry about too little humidity. I would leave it at 40%, I think that's plenty for days 1-18.

There is a diagram somewhere on here that shows how the air cell should look, which will indicate if the egg has lost enough moisture. By day 18 it should have a pretty big air cell that kind of dips at an angle. I will try to find it for you.

 

[SilverDuck284]

Its probably more your area than anything else. Before the next batch try moving it to different rooms to see if it changes. I am doing dry incubation, the humidity stays between 20-30% which is fine! I've read the minimum is 20% before lockdown, so I don't think you have to worry about too little humidity. I would leave it at 40%, I think that's plenty for days 1-18.

There is a diagram somewhere on here that shows how the air cell should look, which will indicate if the egg has lost enough moisture. By day 18 it should have a pretty big air cell that kind of dips at an angle. I will try to find it for you.