Humidity Obsessed

[OffGridMAMA]

That is sooo far! What a journey but how wonderful that you will with your family for Christmas my chickens will have kids living on the other side of the world! How incredible

Showed my kids the video, so excited

 

[3Dchicken]

I have a question: Should I get Hope a few buddies? Should I hatch more of the same kind, and have them three weeks younger, or should I order some online? Btw, I think she is scared of me- how do I get her to like me?

She keeps running away and peeps if I put my hand close to her... I am going to candle the rest of my eggs tonight to make sure that they are, in fact, dead.

I feel like a chicken addict already heeheeee! :3

 

[loves2hatch]

I came home from work with my hatch completed.

Out of 18 mutt eggs from a crazy chicken lady I ended up with 17 fluffy butted chickens. A 94% hatch rate on my first try was a greater feat than I could have imagined.

I learnt so much from BYC. I read all four billion eight hundred and seventy six million posts in the thread hosted by sunshine sally. kudos to you Sally for your dedication to the site but also to the hundreds of people over the years posting here. I truly feel I learnt from others mistakes.

Now I know there is bad luck as well and I expect plenty of disappointments but the one thing I really have learned thus far is unless you have good eggs to start with you better expect losses. I will do everything I can to avoid shipped eggs. Luckily I like driving. There will be a time where I simply have to have that certain breed but until then, I will chose local chickens (not more than a 400 mile drive lol)

This Saturday I am doing a 250 mile circle of SoCal to get some eggs that I hope are all fertile. I will carry them on a 747 to Manila and aprox 30 hrs after i board i will rest them in my little beach house in the middle of nowhere. They will be set midnight Christmas Eve. The next step in getting the flock out of here.

Congratulations ozexpat on your great hatch.

I was thinking about your high humidity issue on your next hatch what about a fan in the room? either a ceiling fan or just one that blows across the outside of the incubator? It may help dry out the air a bit. I'm not sure but it may help.
Good luck and safe travels! I hope everything goes smoothly.
Oh one question, would you have any troubles bringing eggs to another country on a plane? I'm picturing you carrying them on and going thru security checks?

 

[ozexpat]

Congratulations ozexpat on your great hatch.

I was thinking about your high humidity issue on your next hatch what about a fan in the room? either a ceiling fan or just one that blows across the outside of the incubator? It may help dry out the air a bit. I'm not sure but it may help.
Good luck and safe travels! I hope everything goes smoothly.
Oh one question, would you have any troubles bringing eggs to another country on a plane? I'm picturing you carrying them on and going thru security checks?

i will answer that tomorrow....stay tuned

 

[SeattleLeah]

So I have been dry hatching for some time now and I like it for the ease but I keep getting very sticky chicks. Also, nearly all my eggs make it to lock down and then only 3 or 4 out of a dozen hatch. Im worried they are getting shrink wrapped. My incubator is in the basement with ambient humidity of around 85% but inside the bator it drops to the teens. This hatch I am adding a bit of water a few times a week to keep the humidity between 20-30%. Has anyone else had problems with their humidity getting too low? Air vents are all open. It is so strange!?!? I have a hovabator styrafoam with a computer fan installed. Oh and I keep humidty around 70% at lockdown. thanks!

 

[ozexpat]

i have the same system, hatched 17 of 18 with first hatch. Are you opening bator during lockdown at all?

 

[3Dchicken]

So I have been dry hatching for some time now and I like it for the ease but I keep getting very sticky chicks. Also, nearly all my eggs make it to lock down and then only 3 or 4 out of a dozen hatch. Im worried they are getting shrink wrapped. My incubator is in the basement with ambient humidity of around 85% but inside the bator it drops to the teens. This hatch I am adding a bit of water a few times a week to keep the humidity between 20-30%. Has anyone else had problems with their humidity getting too low? Air vents are all open. It is so strange!?!? I have a hovabator styrafoam with a computer fan installed. Oh and I keep humidty around 70% at lockdown. thanks!

Don't air vents let humidity out?

 

[SeattleLeah]

Don't air vents let humidity out?

I think that because ambient humidity in the room is high (85%), having the vents open should allow more room air to enter and keep the humidity up inside.

 

[Roxannemc]

Yes, it is curious that probably the most talked about issue during incubation centers around relative humidity.

I never really had a problem with it, and never really though about it being a problem, until I started reading BYC

Now I worry...

HAHA

...thats really sort of funny you NOW worry and didnt before...I thi k we all worry because at the end its crucial to get it close to right anyway so you dont have a sticky chick or worse ....shrink wrapped.Worry you will screw it up the last day or 2
Most all of us are in the same boat as we most all have non pro models of incubators which dont have a humidity regulator .I am always debatng myself higher ?lower? dry? Can iget a BETTER hatch?But,,,, GEEZ you do get obcesssive over it.

 

[Roxannemc]

So I have been dry hatching for some time now and I like it for the ease but I keep getting very sticky chicks. Also, nearly all my eggs make it to lock down and then only 3 or 4 out of a dozen hatch. Im worried they are getting shrink wrapped. My incubator is in the basement with ambient humidity of around 85% but inside the bator it drops to the teens. This hatch I am adding a bit of water a few times a week to keep the humidity between 20-30%. Has anyone else had problems with their humidity getting too low? Air vents are all open. It is so strange!?!? I have a hovabator styrafoam with a computer fan installed. Oh and I keep humidty around 70% at lockdown. thanks!

Yes! mine gets low every night My Hovabator and my Genesis go low
Cant seem to help it go lower even covering the vent hole I add water every day, a few times a day ... to keep it where i want it. so it doesnt go lower than a few degrees except at night. will go to 20s but i feel if i raise it to 40 -45 it may make up the difference of the low night time. temps .Keep the air cell the right size.less weigh loss of the chick
.
If you are getting a lot of stickys i think you do need to try to do something. Maybe try 40-45 the first 18.I had good luck with that.Never had a sticky with it
Your 70 seems good to me. Medium...not too low or too high but I think you will just have to dinker around lower higher see what works until you dont have stickys,
If you are getting that many i think iwould not take any out either aftethey hatch during lock if you do as that does dry the hatchers out they say.