Humidity peak during the night

[ILoveMyDucks123]

Hi chicken folks,

I am in my first incubation for chickens, I incubated 2 batch of ducklings last spring and it went well. 7/9 for the first hatch, and 5/5 the second one. But my incubator is not good, it is good for temperature, but humidity level is not accurate and it fluctuates a lot. I need to keep it semi open and monitor it all day long (I work from home so it is convenient).

For this incubation (I'm still in the early days, day 3), the first night, in the morning the humidity level was at 19, so I tried to keep the lid completely closed like it is designed for the second night, but this morning the humidity level was at 80...... throughout the day, I manage to keep it between 35 and 50.

I'm wondering at what point it affects the chicks when there are that much of a variation during the night. I'm a little stressed. I have ordered a new incubator (link), the new one will have a tray under so I am hoping the humidity will be better manageable, but it will not arrive before next Wednesday.

I'm so nervous for my 4 Ameraucana eggs, to date, they seem to all develop

 

[Island Coppers]

If the temperature stays in the right range I think you'll be fine. I'm kind of a new guy here so with that in mind.. The humidity can vary a lot without much harm if the air sac in the egg is large enough so when the chick is about to hatch they can breath, just enough to pip a hole in the shell. If you candle the egg you should be able to see the egg sac in the rounded end of the egg. Best luck!

 

[ILoveMyDucks123]

If the temperature stays in the right range I think you'll be fine. I'm kind of a new guy here so with that in mind.. The humidity can vary a lot without much harm if the air sac in the egg is large enough so when the chick is about to hatch they can breath, just enough to pip a hole in the shell. If you candle the egg you should be able to see the egg sac in the rounded end of the egg. Best luck!

Thanks for your reply, I didn't really pay attention to the size of the air sac in my previous hatches, but I'll definitely pay attention this time. If it weren't the right size, would that mean I might need to help?

 

[Island Coppers]

Too small an air sac bring the humidity down, too large up the humidity. You may know that it's recommended to bring the humidity way up in lock down. It keeps that membrane just under the shell from drying out and sticking to the chick. Try and resist the temptation to open the incubator during the last three days.