humidity level question...

[Chocobroc]

Question: I have been reading so much on humidity levels here on the forums when it comes to incubation, but how does the mama keep the humidity levels up on her eggs?

Just wondering because I have a broody right now at day 20, and with all this rain and heat (creating humidity) in my area lately, it made me think about the eggs and how mama hatches her eggs and if mother nature's weather plays a role in the outcome of her clutch...


Thanks!

 

[gumbii]

yes it is true...

she..................






makes it rain... never fails... totally controls the weather...





j/k...




they pluck out their chest feathers and i guess they start sweating on the eggs... and they don't get off of the eggs at all for the last couple of days...

 

[Kermit's shadow]

Birds have no pores, so cannot sweat.

In truth, no-one really understands in detail how birds achieve humidity control, or more accurately, correct total weight-loss. You would also be surprised how little rain usually affects RH when compared to what is needed to hatch eggs - 50% RH at incubation temperature is the same water content in the air as 100% RH at around 25C/77F - dew point of around 25C.

Without doubt, incorrect control/setting of RH/weight-loss is responsible for far more failed, protracted and messy hatches than temperature variation/inaccuracy in modern incubators.