humidity problem! Help!

[Sarah ruby 5]

I have an incubator from Amazon, on the cheaper side. It’s shaped like a little train and doesn’t have the best option for humidity. Its just a tray over the bottom of the incubator where the eggs sit and under there you can put water. If I fill it up all the way to the top the humidity reads 40. That’s weird to me because the instructions say it has to be 55, but it won’t even allow humidity to get up to that. My chicks have been all growing perfectly fine, I candled them and saw very lively babies moving around. On day 18 I stopped touching them. I made the mistake of putting different eggs in a week later, after I out these ones in. so I have eggs hatching tomorrow and then eggs hatching next week! I didn’t understand that humidity has to be different. I don’t know what to do because it has to rise for the hatching ones, but it’s filled to the top and the others ones are still fine but it’s day 20 and I haven’t gotten any pips from the ones that should be hatching. Hope that’s not too confusing! What do you suggest I do?

 

[SilverBirds]

Is the hydrometer calibrated?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Which incubator is it? Make and model? Or do you have a link that shows details? It helps to know what you are working with.

doesn’t have the best option for humidity. Its just a tray over the bottom of the incubator where the eggs sit and under there you can put water.

That's a standard system. What determines humidity is water surface area, not depth of water. The more area that moisture can evaporate from the higher the humidity. Mine has four different trays of different sizes. I manage humidity by which trays I fill with water. There are some tricks people use to increase humidity. Some people add another tray. Some put a corner of a sponge, paper towel, or cloth in water so it wicks out water and gives more surface area for it to evaporate from. Not knowing what your incubator looks like I don't know which might be appropriate for you.

Another possible problem is that you may be having too much air exchange. One time I did not get the lid back on correctly and the humidity dropped significantly. How many vents does that incubator have? The chicks need a certain amount of fresh air so you probably need one vent open but they may not need two open.

If I fill it up all the way to the top the humidity reads 40. That’s weird to me because the instructions say it has to be 55, but it won’t even allow humidity to get up to that. My chicks have been all growing perfectly fine, I candled them and saw very lively babies moving around. On day 18 I stopped touching them.

Some people get good hatches at 30% humidity, some 40%, and some do best at 50% or over. I found that my sweet spot was 39%. There are a lot of different factors that go into that, it can be different for each of us.

Is the hygrometer calibrated is a good question. Unless you have confirmed it is reading correctly it can be off by a lot. I don't trust the factory presets or instruments that come with the expensive incubators, let alone the inexpensive ones. Your actual humidity could be a long way off from what you are reading.

I made the mistake of putting different eggs in a week later, after I out these ones in. so I have eggs hatching tomorrow and then eggs hatching next week! I didn’t understand that humidity has to be different. I don’t know what to do because it has to rise for the hatching ones, but it’s filled to the top and the others ones are still fine but it’s day 20 and I haven’t gotten any pips from the ones that should be hatching. Hope that’s not too confusing! What do you suggest I do?

That is a very common problem on here, especially for first time hatchers. It is not ideal but raising the humidity for a few days isn't likely to hurt the later eggs. What I'd be more concerned about is that the first chicks that hatch can slime the other eggs and make a mess in the incubator. That can allow bacteria to grow and turn the incubator into a stinky slimy mess which can kill the later chicks, let alone stink up your house. There are solutions.

The simplest but most expensive is get a second incubator and use it as a hatcher. When it is time to lock down the eggs move them to the second incubator. People that do staggered hatches often have two incubators for this purpose.

Depending on what your incubator looks like and how many eggs you have you may be able to put "baskets" over the eggs that hatch first to keep them contained when they hatch. You can fashion baskets out of hardware cloth or perhaps use those little baskets berries comes in, something like that. Or build a fence out of hardware cloth to keep the chicks away from the later eggs. Then clean the incubator when the first hatch is over to prepare for the second hatch.

You can just let it go and see what happens. Sometimes that works.

 

[FunClucks]

I did that too - I put in my last egg 8 days after the first one, and realized it was a problem 6 days before the hatch. You're not the only one who did this. Newbie solidarity here.

I built a still air incubator from stuff I had on-hand at the house. I used to can food and had a lot of reptile supplies from hermit crab keeping, so that helped. I knew if I bought another incubator my husband would flip. So I'm hoping for the best.

Good luck!

 

[Sarah ruby 5]

Thanks for all the responses guys! Here’s pictures of the incubator. Also, I noticed raised spots on a few of my eggs, I thought that meant old eggs but I am certain they are moving and growing. The raised spots got there a week ago or a little more. The incubator doesn’t have any air vents. The humidity is staying between 38-40. I wasn’t sure if it was okay or not to pick up the eggs but I’m weirded out I haven’t even heard a peep on day 21, so I candled one without rotating it’s position and I saw the chick moving around in there. So it’s not dead, just late I guess. I’m hoping it’s not trapped because the humidity is low.. so they make noises when they’re trying to hatch even when the humidity is low?

 

[Sarah ruby 5]

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

I wouldn't worry too much nor would I raise the temp much either. I had a very successful silkie hatch last fall with the humidity being around 40-45% the entire time. Day 20 is still early so don't lose hope, as it can take many hours after the day they are supposed to hatch (which is day 21). Usually it it good for an incubator to have vents and to have them open on lockdown. That is so the humidity stays down while the chicks are hatching but most importantly to get air flow and oxygen in there for the chicks. Do you plan on doing more hatches in the future? And just curious, what breed are you incubating?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not familiar with that incubator at all. Are you sure you don't have a link where I could look at the specs or at least the make and model so I could try a search? Do you have the owners manual with instructions?

I can't tell what is going on inside. It looks like you lifted the top off and it is sitting on the carpet. Can you remove the tray the eggs are sitting in or would that put the eggs in the water? Could a chick fall through the opening where the egg is sitting and get in the water? I can't tell what is going on at the bottom of that incubator so it is hard to come up with suggestions.

How many eggs are in the first batch and how many in the second?

 

[Sarah ruby 5]

Here is a link to the same model on Amazon, where we bought it. https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...geDY39H8AhVFIX0KHU2aB2oQwg8oAHoECAUQCw&adurl=

The bottom tray is weird and other reviews said the chicks would sometimes get their feet stuck in the bottom. I have three in the first batch and five in the other. All chicks are still alive and moving as far as I can tell. Today is day 22, I candled one of the eggs that’s supposed to hatch cause I thought it was definitely over. But there I saw the chick looked very active. Maybe it’s just really late. It hasn’t even started pipping or anything though!

 

[Sarah ruby 5]

Oh yes sorry I didn’t answer what breed I was incubating !

I wouldn't worry too much nor would I raise the temp much either. I had a very successful silkie hatch last fall with the humidity being around 40-45% the entire time. Day 20 is still early so don't lose hope, as it can take many hours after the day they are supposed to hatch (which is day 21). Usually it it good for an incubator to have vents and to have them open on lockdown. That is so the humidity stays down while the chicks are hatching but most importantly to get air flow and oxygen in there for the chicks. Do you plan on doing more hatches in the future? And just curious, what breed are you incubating?

I am incubating Americana’s and some light brown eggs, also one large white egg. Not sure what breeds those are. Sorry I’m not much of a help