Humidity Questions, First hatch, help!

[MacCana]

Thanks guys, great info & much appreciated. I live in southern Tennessee so I would think the humidity here would prob be in the middle? Not too dry & not too wet. I know most of the time you don't need to intervene, but when would be a time I would need to "help" a chick hatch out? (Very carefully of course). I guess I should do fine considering humidity isn't as big a deal as temp is. So even a mostly accurate hygrometer should work fine for me. I'm getting a "test batch" of eggs Sunday or Monday, so I will try the dry method if the humidity in my house is ok. If it's too dry I'll add a little water. I really won't know what to do until I go get something to tell me how humid it is. Which I plan on doing tomorrow lol. I will post on here when I do my test run with the results!

 

[blucoondawg]

I would think the humidity in Tennessee should be fine for dry hatching

 

[blucoondawg]

If you have high enough humidity and don't open the incubator at all then I see no reason to help at all. I prefer not to help unless I can tell for sure the egg has an issue like if I had to open the incubator to fix something and I noticed a membrane around a pip that looks bright white, that usually means the membrane is getting dry, then in the past I have chipped away some shell making a large enough hole for the chick to get out and tear away the outer membrane layer or at least rip it through so the chick can get out, but don't bother the inner membrane where the blood vessels are, I did this in the air cell area only. Then I wrapped the egg in a wet paper towel and put it back in the incubator leaving the hole area open of course, this chick hatched fully a few hours later.

 

[MacCana]

Thanks blucoondawg. Sorry I haven't replied sooner. Have been very busy the last 3 weeks. I went with the dry method & so far have had excellent results. Out of 12 eggs, 10 are still alive. They're currently on day 17 & I have candled 3 times, lost only 2 eggs. One of which was by my doing. I was paranoid after my first candling (was using reg. mini led flashlight) & couldn't tell if I was seeing a blood ring in most of the or embriotic mass. So I went out & cracked one. Sure enough, was fertile. Almost cried! So then went & ordered a real high lumens egg candler for under $15 & can see actial babies now. The other was completly clear with no development at 1st & 2nd candling, so tossed it. I have not added water anytime & the air cells in the eggs appear to be the perfect size for their stage at every candling so far (when compared to online sources I've seen). I candled them quickly the last time 2 days ago when I added a new batch of eggs (some Dorking eggs I've been waiting on) day before yesterday. Since the first ones are due to be taken out of the turner soon, I bought a regular, used still-air incubator (It's a Litle Giant. Paid $20.) that I'm going to move them tomorrow night for the last 3-4 days. It's going to be my "hatcher" incubator. I keep hearing LG's are junk, but since I'm just using it for this purpose, I'm sure it'll work fine. What temp do you normally use the last few days? Also have to mention the humidity in the room itself has been from 40-44% the entire time with no effort on my part. You're right, Tennessee seems to have the perfect climate most of the time. So I didn't add water at all. Plan on spraying on mist of water in the "hatcher" tomorrow night when I set them. Do you think this will be a good idea? I'd hate to get this far just to drown them.

 

[blucoondawg]

You aren't going to drown them. Drowning happens when you incubate at high humidity and your air cells don't grow. I just ad water to the bottom troughs for hatching and only mist if I have to open the incubator for some reason during lockdown. So far I haven't messed with the temperature but some recommend lowering it A half a degree to a degree to maybe 98.5 or 99

 

[MacCana]

Oh awesome. That makes me feel a lot better. This is my first time around doing this myself, so still trying to figure some things out. You & other BYC members have told me most everything I need to know. This is a great place for information. Anyway, I've been keep the temp between 98 & 100 degrees this entire time. According to one digital probe thermometer, it stays between 98 & 99 (it doesn't have decimal temps, just whole number temps) and the 2nd one says it's a little higher. Currently, the first is reading 99 & the 2nd is reading 99.32. I've got to clean up my LG today & give it time to get warmed up & temp tested so I can put some eggs in there tonight. Hopefully, the woman I got it from left the dial at a correct range so I can just tweak it a bit, As the dial has no numbers or anything around it. I will definitely just be adding water to the bottom then also. I will keep you posted. Hopefully all 10 left will be hatching! They've made it this far Thanks again blucoondawg!