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

[Buster]

Ok, I am done calibrating my hygrometer and after 12 hours it registers 71%. That means I've actually had a higher humidity percentage than I previously thought. It was registering 76%-84% while in the HovaBator so 4 points higher would make it 80-88% humidity. I got an 83% hatch- which is a personal best after trying a lot of other things. Not too shabby.

 

[Jamie821]

You know a lot of that does make sense. Where I am in Niota is the higher elevation but still alot lower then buster is. I have also noticed something with the marans eggs I hatch. The early quitters seem to be the darkest of the dark eggs. Wheaties and I were talking about before hatching them trying to rub off some of the dark coating on the top part of the eggs to allow more oxygen to enter the egg. Dont know if it will make a difference but it is worth a try and does seem strange that the really dark eggs seem to quit a lot more often then the lighter ones. Humidity under Jean today was 43-39-41. Good luck on this hatch Buster we have one coming up soon. Have just a few more days to go to go to the hatcher. The eggs are wheaton marans black copper marans and wyandottes

 

[Wheaties]

I AM LOVING THIS THREAD! Yelling again here, but it is all good! Seminolewind has done some homework that I find very useful. Buster's input on the different altitudes and locations now makes a bit more sense to me. Heck, I've been right here in good ole Tennessee all my life! I suppose I should have realized that other people in other altitudes, states, and countries hatch eggs too! LOL! As a matter of fact, the Good Lord already knew this and he knows how His creation works in different enviroments anyway! Well, I hope to keep this thread going with some more useful information for all of us. I do have a question for Buster regarding Bammony. Does she live at the same altitude as you do? If so, then I now understand where she is coming from a little bit more. You all (hillbilly language there) have a good night!

 

[Bammony]

Hey Wheaties! Feel free to ask me anything you need to know to help you better understand how I hatch. My elevation is 5564 feet. I think Buster said he was around 5000, so we're not too far off. I'd be very interested in hearing some of your ideas on hatching as I'm very open minded and am always up to learning new things. I may PM you if that's ok.

 

[Buster]

Thanks Wheaties. This has been an eye opener for me as well. I never had taken into consideration that different areas could produce different eggs according to their environments.

I was about to post Bammony's elevation but I see that she just did. I am at 4633 feet so there is almost 1000 feet difference between us.

And I thought I lived at a high elevation!

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
I do not think weighing the whole incubator would work because you are adding water and water is evaporating etc. best to stick to just weighing the eggs ..

Well, I usually have my water in a little bowl. It would be easy to take it out and weigh the bator. I guess, too, if you candle, you could weigh at the same time.

 

[seminolewind]

Thanks, all. I'm so glad I could contribute to this thread, since I only maybe have 6 or 7 hatches so far and all but 2 were not so good. Out of my own eggs, I put 4 under my orp and ended up with 2. I put 4 under my silkie and ended up with 3. My silkie also left one egg out alot. Hmmm. And, funniest thing, she laid a shelless egg, and promptly picked it up and dumped outside the coop,(doghouse), intact, not eaten.

 

[Suellyn]

Chickens know a LOT more than most people think they do, don't they?

It's kinda humbling...

 

[Chicken Woman]

I just had my first hatch so not as experienced as all of you !
I had 3 wellsummers 3 CM and 5 BA (shipped from Tenn)
Im at about 4000 feet.
Used dry hatch and the poor babies had a terrible time getting out. after 16 hours of having 2 eggs cracked in half I had to help them out. It was so dry I know they would never have gotten out.

I ended up with 2 cm and 5 BA. No wellsummers and was bumd as that is what I really wanted ! Oh well I think I will increase hum in my next hatch.

I ran between 99 and 100 in LG with fan. Hum between 30 and 50 first 18 days and then 65 for hatch. I had calibrated my hum beforehabd and it was 74 so pretty close.

Must have been because of elevation .

What do ya think ? IM open to any suggestions !

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
Well, since you are up there in altitude, I think I would go with Buster's high humidity. Maybe he'll see your post, then he can give you better advice because he's at that high altitude too. Oh, and you might have good results getting shipped eggs from a high altitude as well.