Humidity increased after first 2 chicks hatched - is this normal?

[GallineItalia]

Hi there. Any advice would be useful. The first 2 chicks have hatched out of a batch of 12 in our incubator and the humidity has rocketed to 85%. Do the chicks that have hatched increase the humidity because of drying off/breathing and is it just best to leave things as they are?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

It's normal to see humidity spikes while the chicks are hatching and drying in the incubator. What type of incubator are you using?

 

[Mosey2003]

Yes. You can actually tell when the hatch is over just by looking at humidity and not the chicks, it will drop back down when they're done.

 

[GallineItalia]

Thank you for your reply. This is the first time I've used the site. We always do reasonably well with the the number of eggs that are fertile but have disastrous levels of successful hatching.

The humidity has since gone down as you suggested so I guess I must stay firm and not intervene (which is my weakness).

The incubator is a cheap, made in China, type affair but this time we checked the temperature and and humidity with a Brannon thermometer and hygrometer and it was pretty accurate.

Could you give me another piece of advice please? What do I do if not all the eggs have hatched after 24 hours from the first chick hatching. Can it survive longer in the incubator or should I risk opening it? Many thanks.

 

[Mosey2003]

It can wait 3 days.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Thank you for your reply. This is the first time I've used the site. We always do reasonably well with the the number of eggs that are fertile but have disastrous levels of successful hatching.

The humidity has since gone down as you suggested so I guess I must stay firm and not intervene (which is my weakness).

The incubator is a cheap, made in China, type affair but this time we checked the temperature and and humidity with a Brannon thermometer and hygrometer and it was pretty accurate.

View attachment 1840683
Could you give me another piece of advice please? What do I do if not all the eggs have hatched after 24 hours from the first chick hatching. Can it survive longer in the incubator or should I risk opening it? Many thanks.

As Mosey2003 said, they can survive off of the yolk that they absorbed for up to 3 days after hatching. Depending on what kind of activity you see in the incubator you can remove the chicks and candle the other eggs if you feel it's necessary once you don't see any actively pipping. Everyone handles that a little differently but for me if I don't see any activity after 24 hours and the hatched chicks are dry then I would probably check.

 

[GallineItalia]

Thank you both CluckNDoodle and Mosey2003. You've both been really helpful.