Humidity is 52% without any water present in the incubator.......

[Robert M]

I'm sorry. I do not "know everything", but my mentor, whose life's work was in the poultry business, who died at the age of 102, taught me.

You do it YOUR way, and I will do it HIS.

I was just trying to pass on some knowledge from an expert.

Where do you think salmonella starts? With filth.

you do NOT need to wash eggs before incubation
Many people refuse to wash even the dirtiest of eggs and still have great hatches because of the "bloom" which is a protective barrier coating the egg.. washing eggs removes the bloom.
Other people wash eggs and remove the bloom and still have great hatches.. Others wash off the bloom and have horrible hatches,... so dirty eggs DO NOT NEED to be washed!
I brush off the dirt on dirty eggs... but i don't wash them unless they are completely covered

In one of my incubators right now are some very dirty eggs sent to me in that condition.. out of all the shipped eggs they are doing the best and I have had 0 go rotten as opposed to eggs that were washed (which I just had to remove 4 more rotten washed eggs this morning)...


Also YOU CAN USE MARKERS AND INK PENS TO WRITE ON EGGS!
I do it all the time and have 100% hatch rates on fertile non damaged eggs.. using an ink pen.. crayon.. pastel pencil, colored pencil, pencil, sharpie marker, brush pen, cake coloring pens and so on DOES NOT HARM THE EGG!
We have had one member on BYC completely cover an egg with a sharpie pen and it hatched just fine!

I have also had cracked eggs hatch fine after patching with candle wax.. so long as bacteria has not entered the egg it can hatch with no issues!

 

[yuaan]

I am getting paranoid about hatching now . Yesterday i have tried to adjust the temp as i was thinking that the temp might be low so i did that then it went up to 37.9 so i then adjusted it back to 37.5.
today the temp raises up to 37.6 to 37.6 . when i went to rotate the eggs I have felt them , they felt warm but not as it was yesterday ( it cold be me as i have washed my hands 3 times before rotating the eggs and my hands were slightly cold .
i am feeling as i am the only one in this whole world that is so obsessed and insane with hatching .
is it ok to candle them as it will be 3rd day of incubating and the eggs i have are very white and 3 of them are very light.

 

[yinepu]

I am getting paranoid about hatching now . Yesterday i have tried to adjust the temp as i was thinking that the temp might be low so i did that then it went up to 37.9 so i then adjusted it back to 37.5.
today the temp raises up to 37.6 to 37.6 . when i went to rotate the eggs I have felt them , they felt warm but not as it was yesterday ( it cold be me as i have washed my hands 3 times before rotating the eggs and my hands were slightly cold .
i am feeling as i am the only one in this whole world that is so obsessed and insane with hatching .
is it ok to candle them as it will be 3rd day of incubating and the eggs i have are very white and 3 of them are very light.

just relax, fix yourself a nice cup of tea or something and breathe!
there is no need to overstress especially this early in incubation...

it's normal for the temp to fluctuate a bit at first... when you add cold eggs to the incubator it can do some strange things to the temp.. that's why it's best to adjust the temp first.. then after it stays consistent for a few days ..add the eggs... once the eggs warm up (after about a day in the incubator) check the temp and only make SMALL adjustments to the temperature if it's needed. otherwise leave the temp alone and just monitor it for big swings.. if the room temp you have the eggs in affects the incubator too much you may need to move the incubator to another location where temperatures are more consistent or insulate the incubator a bit against large room temperature swings..

as for candling.. it's always interesting for a first timer to candle every day to see the changes.. it DOES increase the risk of breaking or damaging the eggs (bumping or jarring them too much or bacterial contamination).. so it's best for the eggs to limit the amount of time they are being handled..as to how often you candle.. well.. they are your eggs so it's up to you.. just be aware of the risks of damaging the eggs by too much handling. I limit the candling I do.. but that's mainly because I usually have around 300 eggs incubating at any one time between all the incubators.. and I hatch pretty much all year long... so the only reason I candle now is to remove duds and to check for internal pips..

edited to add:
I come from a long line of poultrymen.. my grandparents, great grandparents and their ancestors before them.. I have worked at commercial hatcheries as well as hatch out hundreds if not thousands of eggs a year at home.. I know this is your first hatch with this incubator.. but trust me.. after you hatch out a bunch the paranoia will go away and you'll be fine!

 

[yinepu]

I'm sorry. I do not "know everything", but my mentor, whose life's work was in the poultry business, who died at the age of 102, taught me.

You do it YOUR way, and I will do it HIS.

I was just trying to pass on some knowledge from an expert.

Where do you think salmonella starts? With filth.
Quote:
Sorry, but what you posted on washing eggs, markers and ink pens and cracked eggs was nothing but misinformation and old wives tales... not "knowledge from an expert"
Since you posted misleading info as the truth I felt the need to set the record straight.
Hundreds of people here have hatched out cracked eggs (which were patched), dirty eggs as well as eggs written on with ink pens and magic markers with no issues.. As I myself have done.
I will take our experiences over your dear 102 year old mentor's any day since we have proven him wrong over and over.

I am sorry you lost your mentor since it's apparent he meant a great deal to you.. however he didn't "know everything" either.