humidity ?

[unclejohn]

some people say to ignore humidity completely until day 18. right now though my incubator has a 12% humidity. should i be concerned about this?

also last time i hatched eggs my chicks all ended up being crusty instead of being fluffy. im thinking this is a humidity problem...what should my humidity levels be at throughout?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Dry hatch is anything over 20% and under 50% basically. If you google, you'll get a different percentage for every site. Most regular hatchers try to keep humidity between 45-55% I believe.
I do the dry method now and love it, but according to my hygrometer, my bator stays at least 40% with no water. I would think 12% is too low and put a little water in, at least enough to keep it around 20%. The important thing is to monitor the size of the air cell to make sure that they are loosing enough, but not too much moisture and growing too fast. I would think at 12% they would loose too much moisture too fast, but you'll know if you candle and check the air cells.
When you go into lockdown the humidity needs to go up. The recommendation is at LEAST 65%. I prefer to have mine at least 70 but I am more comfortable with 75%

 

[5fowl]

First time hatching eggs. Great to
Find some info on humidity! Just wondering what temperature you use when at 40%?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Temp should be the same regardless of what your humidity is. Depending if you have a forced air incubator (fan) or a still air incubator that's the only reason for differing temps.

Forced air incubator should be 99 - 99.5 farenheight
Still air incubator should be 101 -102 farenheight measured at the top of the eggs.

Also I have to agree with AmyLynn monitoring the air cell is a essential for good hatching. The humidity should be an average over the entire incubation period short term variations shouldn't be problem as long as the average is ok.

Best of luck with your hatch.

 

[5fowl]

Thanks! We will definitely be candling to keep an eye on their progress and monitor the air sack. And asking many more questions as well! Such as what is the best book to buy for information on incubating and hatching out chickens?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I don't have a book to reccomend (I do all my reading on the interwebber) but I would say click on this link for a very good read with LOTS of information on incubating and hatching. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101 It's a fantastic article with lots of extra links on it to other research about incubating. Really is like my bible!! I always refer to it for reference. Hope you enjoy the read

 

[unclejohn]

Wow thanks for all the replies guys. Does anyone know how well water heater thermostats work?

this link here
http://www.rona.ca/en/water-heater-thermostat
is my local rona shop. when i look at the picture though it looks like the temperature on it can only be set from 110F to 170F.
i was thinking about maybe just getting a dimmer switch
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/lutron-credenza-cfl-led-lamp-dimmer-0528676p.html#.VKKvKF4Cw

then i can just set the temp as i need. People have said that with dimmer switches if the power goes out then the dimmer will not turn the light back on, but i am usually home anyways

are the water heater thermostats reliable at keeping it at 99.5?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm with yorkshire...book? Who needs a book??

Seriously though, there is a article/thread on just about everything right here on BYC. All you have to do is ask about what you are looking for and chances are someone will shoot you a link, or you can just search your topic at the top. The nice thing with using the forum is you not only get info, but people's opinions (which very immensely) and their experiences with what has worked for them. (Which also greatly varies.) You definitely get to see different philosophies here of what people believe you should or shouldn't do...lol

 

[5fowl]

Thanks for the link that is amazing!! Still looking forward to reading all the links from that link. As if I didn't spend enough time chicken obsessing now!

This is why I am still a new egg I had no idea someone would go to all the work of posting great and useful information and not expect book royalties!!!!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks for the link that is amazing!! Still looking forward to reading all the links from that link. As if I didn't spend enough time chicken obsessing now!

This is why I am still a new egg I had no idea someone would go to all the work of posting great and useful information and not expect book royalties!!!!

That link has an awesome link for assisted hatching too. and if you are looking for candling pics, I always use this one: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation
There's a lot of great info in the learning center. ;-)