Humidity Percentage? ***Please Help***

[Theeggboxtoo]

What is the correct percentage of humidity I need for hatching welsh harlequin eggs? I ordered 12 and they're supposed to be shipped Monday!
Any help appreciated!

 

[duckyfromoz]

I have mine around 55% for the first 25 days then bump it up to around 80 % for hatching. The humidity needed can vary a little depending on the climate where you live though. I also pay attention to the size of the aircell throughout incubation and vary the humidity as needed.

Best of luck with your eggs. Shipping can be hard on eggs, so watch for hairline cracks and where the aircell is- and if it moves around freely when you candle them.

 

[Theeggboxtoo]

Quote:
Thank You! The eggs are coming from Louisiana so the ride is not really long.

 

[Theeggboxtoo]

Is this correct?

A squirt or two of water when you turn them
Day 1-25 55% humidity 99.5 – 100.0 degrees
Day 25-28 80% humidity 99.5 – 100.00 degrees
Do not turn the first 24 hours.
Turn 3 times a day, At 8:00 AM, 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Stop turning day 25
28 days total

 

[duckyfromoz]

Sound like you have it all sorted.. Are you using a still air or incubator with a fan? Make sure if you are using a still air that you have a thermometer siting at the height of the middle of the egg to check the temp. Too high and your temp may be a little low - and if the thermometer is too low you temp may be up too high.

When I mist furring the first 25 days- I dont spray the eggs themselves so much. I spray around on the tray they sit on. It helps to increase humidity quickly without touching the egg itself too much. I do mist the eggs directly if needed during lockdown if there is evidence of them needing more moisture.

 

[FenDruadin]

May I just add that it would be a very good idea to measure your air cells during the course of incubation, to determine the optimal humidity for *your* situation. With any luck, the recommended humidity (I would personally start with whatever the incubator's instructions recommend for chickens but of course that's up to you) will work great for you. But chances are that whatever you start with will not be absolutely optimal (meaning it would be possible to get a higher hatch rate at a different humidity) or even, sadly, that it won't work well at all. In either event, knowing how your air cells were developing will tell you whether you need to raise or lower humidity for the next batch. Ideally, you want the air cell to take up between 1/4 and 1/3 of the egg's volume at hatch time. You can watch its progress by drawing a circle around it each time you candle. If you get close to lockdown and the air cell is way too small, there are things you can do to try to increase its size. A tiny air cell will lead to fully-formed birds that can't hatch (they literally drown when they try to pip internally).

I'm definitely not trying to scare you here. Most of the time, the recommended humidity works more or less fine. Also most of the time, another humidity will work best for you and there is no way of knowing until you try. Ambient humidity, altitude, your particular incubator, and a host of other conditions can impact the humidity you should be using. In GENERAL, humid parts of the world call for lower humidity in the incubator, and drier parts call for higher, so you may want to tweak the recommendation out of the starting gate based on that. Again, though, you'll be SO glad you have air cell size records when you get to the end of the hatch.

Good luck, by the way. Hatching ducks is totally addictive.

 

[Theeggboxtoo]

I looked at Metzer Farms hatching instructions and i am going to follow their recommendations. Thank you for helping!

 

[FenDruadin]

Just to be clear, spritzing eggs with water actually has the same effect on air cell development as *lowering* the humidity. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it's related to the polarity property of water--water molecules are attracted to other water molecules, and when you spritz an egg with water the water inside the egg wants to come out and join the party on the outside (so to speak). So it increases moisture removal, just as lower humidity does. However, during the lockdown phase it might be useful for maintaining moisture on the membranes--I've never tried it. But I wanted to clarify that during the main portion of incubation, spritzing the eggs does not have the same effect as raising humidity.