Humidity Help Please!

[redhen]

I think i'm killing all my duck eggs!! Today is day 9..and i just candled them..they are ALL fertile and veining and had little embryos kicking around...
But... over half the egg looked like it had air in it.. like the embryo and liquid was in one half on the egg..and the other half was all clear/air... PLUS.. the air cell at the top of the egg...
i know it has to do witrh humidity somehow...
I've been keeping it at 50-70%..
is that too high?? or too low... whats going on..they look like they are loosing their liquid very fast...too fast.
Will they survive??

What should i do?
Also..these are DUCK eggs....not chicken eggs... thats why i had humidity a little higher... but maybe its too high?? Thanks for any help!!!!

 

[debilorrah]

70% MAY be too high, but I haven't hatched ducks. Chickens I try to keep it at 60% if at all possible. What day are they on? Are they shipped eggs?

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Hey!

Yeah they are shipped...but they are all fertile..
i saw the little peanuts kicking and everything.. Man..i hope i dont kill them..

I just dont think they they will have enough liquid to make it the rest of the hatch...

 

[debilorrah]

There is usually alot less liquid the closer it gets to day 28, ya know. Also with shipped eggs, there is a good chance they quit early. At least that is my experience.

 

[Barry]

Just a question about your humidity readings, 50-70% is a lot of variation. Why? I believe you should try for 60% for ducks but even this does not explain the large air space at such an early time. I would suggest adding more water to raise the level higher to prevent even more loss and check the accuracy of your hydrometer.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
the variation is because i have 3 hydrometers.. spaced in different places in the bator... and they always say different readings...

(2 are dial readings..one is digital..) its SO hard to regulate them...

So.. add more water??
I'm confused as to how incubating humidity works??... if i have it at high humidity..it should loose less water, right?? So..why is it doing this??

 

[debilorrah]

Wendy have you calibrated the hydrometers??

 

[babsbag]

I have never hatched duck eggs so I am not much help on what your humidity should be at, but I am sure that someone will help you. Have you calibrated your hygrometers? There are directions on BYC on how to do that. That may be why you are getting different readings. I have 2 and they were both off by different amounts.

Also, when trying to raise your humidity it is the surface area of the water that matters, not the depth. Some people use new wet sponges in the incubators to increase humidity. I also found that putting a pan water near the heat source raised it faster than putting it elsewhere in the incubator.

Good luck, and you are right, lower humidity makes for a larger air cell. I noticed when I candled my chickie eggs that it looked like alot of the egg was empty so I was a little worried, being a newbie and all, but I got 9 out of 10. I was running with lower humidity on purpose so I was thinking that was the problem, but then I also thought maybe they were supposed to look like that.

Maybe this web page can help. http://www.duckhealth.com/hatcduck.html

 

[redhen]

Thanks guys!

I'll try to figure out how to calibrate my humidity thingie...

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Honey all you have to do is ask!

1/2 cup salt
1/4 water

mix in a small coffee cup.

Take the hydrometer and the coffee cup and place side by side in a plastic ziploc baggie. Wait 12 hours. It should read 75%. If it doesnt you need to adjust your humidity by whatever it is off. Mine read 58%, so I have to add 17% to what it reads.