Humidity question

[Bock_Bock]

what i am saying is with dryer weather people set it for higher humidity as it will dry out faster if they set it for 35 it will always dry out so quick and would have to keep adding water over and over agian a couple or few times a day but hiaving a higher humidity even if it is close to 50% in this heat will not hurt the eggs as it will dry out and drop fast its just it is hard to keep a steady humidity her ein california as the air is so dry

 

[Bammony]

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Your gauge is right? I think 70% the whole time would certainly give hatching problems.

Funny you say that. We had hatching problems before we raised the humidity. And yes, the hydrometer is correct.

 

[Katy]

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I guess we all have to figure out what works for each of us. Over the years I've been hatching I've tried a lot of different things and finally got it down so it works pretty good each time. I just know if my humidity is that high during incubation the chicks make it to the end of incubation and then drown because the aircell hasn't been able to dry down enough.

 

[Bammony]

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I guess we all have to figure out what works for each of us. Over the years I've been hatching I've tried a lot of different things and finally got it down so it works pretty good each time. I just know if my humidity is that high during incubation the chicks make it to the end of incubation and then drown because the aircell hasn't been able to dry down enough.

Exactly. Like Katy said, just figure out what works for you in your area! Good luck! I just love hatching! Have alot of fun with it.

 

[maymiegirl]

Well, are you hatching a dark egg or a light egg. Extremely dark eggs should be incubated with nearly no humidity if you can accomplish that. All the way up until about 3 days before hatch. 25% is ideal for a very dark egg. 3 days before hatch that humidity percentage needs increased to only 45%

However, a white or very light egg usually needs about 45% increased to 60-65%% at hatch.

Not a lot of people have great hatch rates because most will try and incubate the extremely dark and darker eggs at a humidity lighter eggs need. Sometimes a chick will hatch halfway around the egg and when it gets to the lower half of the egg the chick drowns in the interior fluid because the moisture during incubation was too high.

 

[Buster]

A lot of it depends on your altitude. Eggs laid at higher altitudes are more porous and need more humidity. The reverse is true for lower altitudes. I am at 4700 ft and set my humidity at 76% the whole way through and up it to 80% or so (both with a calibrated hygrometer) at hatching and have 82% hatch rates. Before doing that my hatch rates were dismal. Then a local old-timer told me that I needed much higher humidity around here. The best thing you can do is ask someone locally who has been hatching for a long time what they do. They will have fine tuned their hatching over time for your locale and will know just what to set it at. Good luck!

 

[Katy]

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I've hatched a lot of my Marans eggs and I do them the same as my others and get good hatches.

 

[wjallen05]

omg all of this hatching stuff is so stressful. I just started and already want to give up.

 

[Bock_Bock]

you will never give up trust me at the end when your eggs are pipping and zipping and hatching you will see this was all worth while and 2 mins later you will be ordering more eggs lol

 

[HappyHatch'en]

I've heard from many long time poultry people, plus doing my research that humidity readings should be 55% for the first 18 days and 65% for the last three days (page 128...."Story's Guide to raising Poultry"....I'm trying to learn away to raise it, other than a pan of water with a small sponge...
Happy Hatch'en Folks