I will be honest and say I haven't read this whole thread, but would like to offer my insight on humidity for incubation and hatching for the OP. What one finds works in their environment and particular situation does not work for everyone. It is as plain as that. I know people stand behind dry incubation methods and others stand firmly behind "exact" humidity percentages for each period of incubation, but the science to it all is finding out what works in your environment (where you live, in your natural humidity and locale).
In my own experience, I find that I must maintain at least 50% humidity during incubation and 65% relative humidity during hatch in most cases.
I have suffered from a very wet hatch once and monitor my numbers, but not so closely that I panic. What happens, happens. Usually there's not much you can do about it anyways, except adjust for next time. My wet hatch resulted in soggy chicks and a stinky hatcher. Many chicks died in their shells, some right on the hatcher floor after hatching and some shortly after being moved to the brooder. This is commonly known as "mushy" chick. It was a mess and quite upsetting. I quickly learned that very high incubation and hatching humidity is dangerous where I live.
After that experience I tried the "dry" incubation (which is not entirely what people tend to think it is btw). Adding very little water to keep humidity very low during incubation and then appropriate water at hatch time. Most of my chicks were stuck in their shells. This again was very upsetting.
After numerous adjustments and trial and error, you learn quickly what will work in your location and at the specific time of the year (when you may be experiencing higher humidity levels naturally or dryer spells in your location). Everyone must adjust for this in their locale in order to achieve success in their own hatches. We can all offer advice, but it is the true test of incubation that will tell one what will work and what won't. I always suggest to go by the manufacturer's recommendations initially and adjust from there based on actual results. If you're chicks are having a hard time hatching, you need to figure out if it's due to humidity in the first place.
People tend to claim unhatched chicks is the result of "drowning" in the egg. While I believe that occurs in very wet hatches, I also think other factors come into play. Temperature and ventilation are as critical, if not more so, than humidity.
I think we're all here to help one another and advice is always welcome. The OP can take it for what it is..advice..and hopefully learn from us and achieve success as well.
In my own experience, I find that I must maintain at least 50% humidity during incubation and 65% relative humidity during hatch in most cases.
I have suffered from a very wet hatch once and monitor my numbers, but not so closely that I panic. What happens, happens. Usually there's not much you can do about it anyways, except adjust for next time. My wet hatch resulted in soggy chicks and a stinky hatcher. Many chicks died in their shells, some right on the hatcher floor after hatching and some shortly after being moved to the brooder. This is commonly known as "mushy" chick. It was a mess and quite upsetting. I quickly learned that very high incubation and hatching humidity is dangerous where I live.
After that experience I tried the "dry" incubation (which is not entirely what people tend to think it is btw). Adding very little water to keep humidity very low during incubation and then appropriate water at hatch time. Most of my chicks were stuck in their shells. This again was very upsetting.
After numerous adjustments and trial and error, you learn quickly what will work in your location and at the specific time of the year (when you may be experiencing higher humidity levels naturally or dryer spells in your location). Everyone must adjust for this in their locale in order to achieve success in their own hatches. We can all offer advice, but it is the true test of incubation that will tell one what will work and what won't. I always suggest to go by the manufacturer's recommendations initially and adjust from there based on actual results. If you're chicks are having a hard time hatching, you need to figure out if it's due to humidity in the first place.
People tend to claim unhatched chicks is the result of "drowning" in the egg. While I believe that occurs in very wet hatches, I also think other factors come into play. Temperature and ventilation are as critical, if not more so, than humidity.
I think we're all here to help one another and advice is always welcome. The OP can take it for what it is..advice..and hopefully learn from us and achieve success as well.
