Humidity???

[jjhllnd]

How important is tight humidity control. I feel like I am stressing over it to much. I can’t seem to keep the humidity at 58-60. It stays around 65-70 constantly. What are the effects of the this? What is the appropriate humidity range? Also I have played with the plugs but it didn’t help. Thanks for your advise!

 

[MarkJr]

Not enough air sack development if that high during incubation. I’m on day 2.5 of my very first hatch. I’ve been helped here with insight of dry incubation (20% and above) and only raising the humidity during lockdown. I’m going to aim for 65-70 at that point. When eggs start zipping I’m told it will spike higher.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

How important is tight humidity control. I feel like I am stressing over it to much. I can’t seem to keep the humidity at 58-60. It stays around 65-70 constantly. What are the effects of the this? What is the appropriate humidity range? Also I have played with the plugs but it didn’t help. Thanks for your advise!

Why do you have your humidity so high? What are you hatching?
The chicks will drown in the shells right before hatch if you have you humidity that high throughout. Try 30-40% humidity.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I agree with the other posters. That is too high.
I would dry it out unless candling tells you too much moisture has been lost.
Humidity is not a set number. What is appropriate for one egg may not be appropriate for another. The goal is to achieve 13% weight loss for chicken eggs during the 21 days.

 

[jjhllnd]

Why do you have your humidity so high? What are you hatching?
The chicks will drown in the shells right before hatch if you have you humidity that high throughout. Try 30-40% humidity.

how do I get it down. That’s what I am having trouble doing. Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Do you have any water in the incubator? If so, dry it out.
Apparently you have a lot of ambient humidity. Where are you located?
If that is the case, you can run it in a small room or closet with a dehumidifier.

 

[Juliet512]

I agree with the other posters. That is too high.
I would dry it out unless candling tells you too much moisture has been lost.
Humidity is not a set number. What is appropriate for one egg may not be appropriate for another. The goal is to achieve 13% weight loss for chicken eggs during the 21 days.

So the eggs weigh less with fully developed baby chicks in them compared to a freshly laid egg? Huh! I would have thought it would be the other way around! The things you learn!

Is there some kind of chart for showing ideal humidity for different breeds? I have several breeds in my incubators now. My humidity is staying between 45-55% according to the incubators. The device I just bought shows 5% less humidity in each incubator. We got some rain and a little cool front in yesterday so the air conditioner is off and the humidity is a bit high today-- between 50-55%

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It is kind of counterintuitive. The weight reduction is due to moisture transpiration through the pores in the shell.
I imagine the growing embryo is offset by the yolk and albumen nutrition they consume.

https://www.pasreform.com/en/knowledge/86/optimal-weight-loss-profiling-during-incubation
There is a limited chart on humidity for avian species but not chicken breeds.
https://poultrykeeper.com/incubating-and-hatching-eggs/weight-loss-method-forl-incubation/
Chickens in general should have somewhat the same humidity to yield the necessary weight loss. However, even some lines of chickens within a breed can need slightly different humidity to achieve that weight loss.
Some believe that dark eggs may need lower humidity. The assumption being that the heavy pigmentation may make the pores smaller. I'm not sure if that is true.

https://poultryperformanceplus.com/information-database/incubation/283-weight-loss-during-incubation