Humidity in Bator...EXCELLENT INFO HERE! EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS!

[ginbart]

I'm going to put some eggs in my bator today or tomorrow, when I get my eggs in the mail. Hopefully today. But anyway, with all the reading I have done I always did around 50% the first 18 days and up to 70% the last three days.

I think I may try it different this time. I'm going with the 30-40 the first 18 and 50 the last three. Maybe that will help my hatch because I didn't have good hatchs before. It must be because of the humidity being to high and the eggs are not able to evaporate.

I have been checking my eggs when we eat them and I only have about 50% fert. so we will see how many I get.

Try and try agian. I hope you have a good hatch, keep us updated. Good vibes coming your way.

 

[jvls1942]

Buddy E. you have explained something to me that I had a lot of trouble with.. I had more chick die than hatch last summer..They were well developed but never pipped.. I always tried to keep the humidity very high, per directions I was inclined to believe.. and I had problems with chicks sticking to the shell after they pipped..

I am going to try the dry incubation method with my next batch, without a doubt..

I have one major problem, though..
I am almost blind and I cannot candle eggs.. I have brown shelled eggs and that make it doubly difficult to candle.. what do you suggest??

BTW I am going to pick up a 1502 Sportsman next week.. I will probably use the hovabators for hatching boxes..

thank you for the in depth report.

....jiminwisc........

 

[Wheaties]

Let me try to explain two questions that have been asked me by two different people in a way that can be understood! I am not sure about talking to anyone as if they are 5. However, I do understand when I am talked to that way! LOL!
Let's refer back to that mother hen! If we were able to place a hygrometer under a hen without her moving it out, what do you think the humidity would read? It would be no higher than around 48 to 50% maybe even lower. If it were any higher, that hen would be wet from the humidity. How many wet hens have you seen brooding? A duck sitting will have higher humidity because she will go to a water source, get wet and return to her clutch to moisten them. Chickens do not have down as a duck does, therefore they do not reflect or absorb water. A hen will acually lose body temperature if she gets wet. This is how I usually break a broody. I dip her in cool water everyday, or slide ice cubes under her all day long for a day. When her body temp lowers, she is no longer interested in brooding for she knows that she cannot maintain the temp needed to keep her clutch warm. I have also used childrens baby asprin to thin their blood and lower their body temp. Now let's ask ourselves this question. Do you think that mother hen is able to candle those eggs? If I had a difficult time seeing and could not get someone to assist me and explain to me what was seen in the egg, I would just leave them alone. I candle begginning on day 10 instead of 7 as recommend by Bill Worrell. If I could not see very well I would pick the eggs up only to sniff them on day 10. This will not tell you if they are developing, but I guarantee you it will tell you if the egg has a bacteria in it and is rotten. That is how some broody hens are able to detect an egg that is bad.
The reason I say no higher than 55% on humidity is because I do not believe a higher humidity is needed for the chicks to get out of the egg. This is another place that I differ from Bill Worrells Dry method and my reasoning again is referring back to the humidity under a hen. The hen not coming off the eggs the last 3 days will make the humidity under her rise more than the previous days. she helps her clutch get out by staying on those eggs. However, I still do not believe that hens humidity gets higher than 55%. This is just primarily based on my experience for the past 3 years of hatching. I do not usually check the humidity of my incubation room because I have a sportsman which does not absorb as much room humidity as a styrofoam type bator. A hen sitting on eggs in a humid enviroment will vent her clutch based on a God instilled ability to know when to do so. We will never be able to master Gods creation. In mimicing that hen with a bator, it is something that must be watched unless you know that your room is stable, thus the job of incubating the eggs would be easier.
Another thing to keep in mind when taking advice from me is that I incubate mostly Marans eggs which have a thicker shell and a tougher membrane. If the method I use works well on them, and it does, then it will work well on all chicken eggs. I hope I have been helpful!

 

[Wheaties]

Jamie821 described perfectly what to look for in the eggs. Day 10, Day 18 and that is it on candling for me! If I were not needing to know a fertility ratio to sale my eggs, I probably would not candle at all!

 

[jvls1942]

with me bad eyes as I mentioned, I do rely on smell.. I can smell a bad egg without opening the bator.. I didn't mention it because so many people are so quick to argue most any point. Like; I expect somebody to say, sure if the egg is ready to explode you can smell it.. I am not going to defend any statement I make here..

 

[Wheaties]

Dear JVLS, I see no reason why you would have to defend your statement with anyone! It just makes perfect since that the loss of one sense will increase the other senses for the purpose of survival. I am glad to be of help to anyone, not to mention the pleasure of getting to talk with you! You rely on the sense of smell and let the developement of the other eggs take care of themselves and I think all will come out fine!

 

[Suellyn]

I am watching this thread with great interest... Humidity levels seem to be where I find the BIGGEST variation in advice, and like kryptoniteqhs said, many success stories to back them all up. I am an absolute NEWBIE with chickens (my first batch of hatching eggs are warming to room temp, to be set tomorrow), but very experienced in animal care (Zookeeper at a major Zoo with degree as a Vet Tech), in general. Something that is really hitting home with me, is Wheaties statement:

Let's refer back to that mother hen! If we were able to place a hygrometer under a hen without her moving it out, what do you think the humidity would read? It would be no higher than around 48 to 50% maybe even lower. If it were any higher, that hen would be wet from the humidity. How many wet hens have you seen brooding?

and the general philosphy of mimicing nature as closely as possible, altho try as we might, we ain't NEVER gonna have that "God instilled ability" that comes instinctively to all animals in one form or another!!

I really wish someone COULD stick a hygrometer/thermometer under a broody, and let me know what it says!

I hope this is not thread hijacking, but along those lines of mimicing Momma Hen, something that seems way "off" in that department (to me) is that she gets up & leaves the nest - maybe not during the last few "hatching days" - but for a few minutes daily, otherwise. I know it's not for long, but it seems that it would have SOME sort of impact on the eggs, especially in colder weather!? And just about everything I have read warns about not keeping the 'bator open for more than a minute or two to turn eggs, and people often get egg turners to avoid even that.

Again, I am REALLY NEW to egg incubation, I know NOTHING, but this is something I've wondered about alot... Just seems like it's something that happens in the natural incubation process, that I haven't seen addressed in the "human facilitated" incubation process. ?? Just curious.​

 

[Jamie821]

very smart thinking but I think I can explain it to you. number one will not hurt the eggs when candling for the eggs to be out longer then that. I have had mine out up to twenty minutes when I have a large number of eggs to candle does not hurt them at all. If you read worrells dry method you will notice that the first eighteen days he says not to add water until humidity drops to 25%. This mimicks the hen getting off the egg. Also a broody will push the eggs around in the nest. The ones in the middle she will push to the outside and the ones outside she will push to the inside. That is how they keep all the eggs warm and the humidity they need. Then the last three days a broody doesnt get off her nest or move her eggs thus keeping humidity in the eggs that is why in a bator you raise the humidity some and dont open the bator. As far as putting a hydometer under a broody I have one and I will try to attach it to her and see if I can get it to stay. If so will let you know.

 

[Jamie821]

ginbart on the last three days do your humidity at about 55 not 50 it seems at about 55 the chicks are about perfect in wetness.

 

[Wheaties]

Wow Suellynn! You have added an interesting question to benefit this thread! I can assure you that this thread is in no way a hijacking of any kind! It is all based on my years of hatching and working with poultry! I tell everyone "to work with chickens, you gotta think like one." When I was about 12 my brothers set me down to try and explain the birds and bees to me based on an idea I had to get hens to go broody quicker than they would on their own! I did not listen to them and it was a good thing I didn't! I had over 300 chicks on the farm from 10 hens and a rooster by the end of summer! They could not believe that I actually knew what I was talking about! You see, I thought like a chicken. I was going to be paid by a game breeder on how many chicks I raised from a group of games he turned loose on our farm! It was late February and I started observing where the game hens were hiding their nests. I would go in and write the number 1 on the first egg laid and then number the eggs each day until I reached number 16. I then took number 1 out! Usually that hen would brood at around 15 to 18 eggs laid by instinct of just seeing a nest full of eggs. God put that in a hen! She would only have 15 eggs under her of the freshest laid. I kept removing the oldest number in the clutch until she began to brood! Almost every egg hatched and done so by late March. As far as the elements were concerned, I just left those eggs alone regardless of the temps. I was able to get those game hens to brood 3 times that season and got paid some major mola! I said all that to say this. The hen coming off the eggs for the first 17 days to eat allows those eggs to breathe. We are trying to mimic that with vents in the bator. As Jamie821 said, when the hen returns to the nest, a method of egg rotation is done for the purpose of getting the eggs properly incubated. Developement of the chick will stop at a temperature below 80 to 85 degrees. Trust me, a good broody will not leave the clutch long enough for the eggs to drop below that temp. If it is cold outside, she will return sooner than if it were summer temps! To assure this with some breeds, I would put her where she could only go to 1 nest of eggs, I have found where some not so good broodies would just climb back on a nest with nest eggs in it and allow her clutch to get too cold and die!
Let me give everyone another example of the mother hen technique as we will now refer to it! LOL! Did you know that a hen can hatch duck eggs without a problem, but a duck cannot hatch chicken eggs! That's right! That duck will drown those chicks in the egg before they ever get a chance at life. Yes, I have tried this too! The duck would go to the pond and return to the hen eggs thinking they were duck eggs of course. The water absorbed in her down and released for higher humidity drowned those chicks. The eggs were broken to find developement to about half way of the 21 days! My grandpa said "Buddy that duck has drown those chicks." I did not understand what he was saying then, but it makes perfect since now. We are thinking like a duck when we set eggs at a high humidity level and not thinking like a chicken. This is of course under normal conditions. If you keep that duck hen from a water source that she can get wet in, then you can hatch hen eggs under her! I tried this too and the duck was able to bring off chicks but not as many as a hen! Duck eggs can take and are usually brooded at higher humidities because they are waterfowl. They can take lower humidity and still develope because wild ducks are able to adapt to areas where drought has affected their nest grounds. Chickens on the other hand will not brood if their area has become flooded. They can not physically make a way unless they get to higher ground. They do not migrate like ducks so they are stuck with what they got! Ducks also lay only 3 to 4 months out of the year, where as the hen is all year! We simply need to study the nature of the animal by observing it's behavior and do our best to think like it does when it comes to reproducing or surviviing! God gave them this ability and we can observe it to the best we can and then try to make conditions as close to the normal for them as possible. Hope this was helpful and made sense!