humidity way to high due to hygrometer....please help!!!!! need advice

[bellah1]

I'm on day3 of incubating duck eggs & had calibrated my new hygrometer in a bag with wet salt in a bowl & it was spot on. But when I couldn't get it above 35% I knew something was up so I got a little regular hygrometer(not digital) it said it was around 60%-65%! I had calabrated that one in the same way & it was spot on too. So I took out the jar of water w/sponge and calibrated the digital probe one again but this time with only the probe in the bag & its like 30% off! So now that I have a working hygrometer should I drop my humidity since I'm only on day 3 and if I drop it how much and how fast? Please help!!!!

 

[gimmie birdies]

I don't have a store bought so I cannot help you that way, if you are only on day 3 you are probably ok, plus duck eggs need more water anyway, do your candling on days 7/14/18 and remember ducks have a different lock down day. good luck.

 

[bellah1]

I don't have a store bought so I cannot help you that way, if you are only on day 3 you are probably ok, plus duck eggs need more water anyway, do your candling on days 7/14/18 and remember ducks have a different lock down day. good luck.

I keep reading different humiditys for duck eggs so I was going to try for the middle. Meyers hatchery I think even said 70%! What is a good humidity?? I just wanna know if ishould keep it the same or if cause its only day 3 to lower& how fast & low to do it at?!!

 

[gimmie birdies]

well day three you have alot of days to correct it even if you have too much. I just do homemade incubators and don't even use a hydrometer, so I cannot help you there, I am mostly a chicken hatcher. but I do know ducks have a moister requirement. I would not worry too much and maybe a duck person will come on and help you out here.

 

[bellah1]

Anyone??!!!

 

[brownfoxfarm]

You're so early in the incubation, I should think you won't have a problem if you simply correct to the proper humidity level and keep going.

 

[TheH Klan of 10]

Maybe someone can help me also on humidity issues my chicken eggs are on the 5 th day and I just got a monitor for humidity over the wknd and after 24 hrs it is at 62 % I have read on here that that is way too high

what levels should I try to keep it at till lockdown and is this going to hurt the hatch?

 

[bellah1]

Since i couldnt get much help on humidity here, I emailed the lady I'm getting my trout runner eggs from next month & she has been doing this for like 30 years. I'm putting her email below its great advice and has a must have book for incubating ducks at the end. Hope this helps you, it really helped me.....

You've probably heard so many different things because the temperature and humidity control differs with each incubator. The best thing to do is test the machine using several thermometers and several relative humidity gauges until you find the correct settings for your machine. Many years ago I had two identical table top automatic incubators that I had to adjust the temperature settings differently in each. Since then I've never trusted what the digital readouts say and always test with multiple devices first. One of my customers has been hatching using a Sportsman for over 10 years. It's experience, learning about your equipment, and healthy parental stock that makes good hatches. What seems to make the biggest difference in water fowl hatches is the humidity during the hatch; if it's not kept high enough the egg shells become too tough for the ducklings to break free. Some people will mist the eggs with warm water the last couple of days but with the incubators with the automatic humidity controls I have not had to mist. One of the things I learned is to give it another couple of days before giving up on the last unhatched eggs. One of my favorite drakes hatched two days after the others in his clutch.

The general guidelines for duck hatching are a
temperature between 99.5 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. (4-5 degrees lower or higher is lethal)
relative humidity between 55-60% until the last 3-4 days (lock-down) at which time it should be raised to 68-70%
stop turning eggs 3 days before the hatch (start of lock-down)
adjust the air vents based on your incubator's instructions, increasing air flow the last 3-4 days.
Always WATCH the humidity and temperature, adjusting as needed throughout the incubation period.
The have to have book is Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks by Dave Holderread.

 

[bellah1]

Also I would definitely get a second thermometer & hygrometer I had a brand new expensive digital hydrometer and like I said in my first post I couldn't get my humidity above 35%. I went to a local little pet store and got a tiny square manual one for 4.99 & calibrated both of them , the $5 one was spot on. I'm just happy I bought that second one or I could of killed this hatch easily