If I put wet washcloths on my eggs will it suffocate them?

[princessmama]

I'm trying to get the humidity up in my incubator. I have a marsh turnx. It is a dome type with a little fan on top. I have sixteen muscovy duck eggs, which totally fill up the incubator. The whole bottom of the incubator it full of water (under the rack the eggs are on the whole bottom is a water resevior).

My humidity, according to my hygrometer, stays around 50%. When I wet the eggs it goes up between 60-65%. The temp also goes up by three or four degrees for a while after this. I've read that the eggs need to be at 65% humidity now and 85% when it's time for them to hatch. I've also read about folks wrapping their eggs in wet paper towels to get the humidity up. I know eggs need to breath, but... ??? There is no room in the inucubator to put a wet sponge or anything beside the eggs. Plus there's a ton of water in there already.

Also, there are two screws on the sides that come out and leave a little hole--are these vents? (the incubator we are borrowing from my in-laws, they have had it since the seventies...) One of the screws is missing and I plugged the little hole thinking it might help a little. We just hatched 8 chicken eggs in this bator without the hygrometer or digital thermometer (just a little plastic bulb thermo that was with the bator when they handed it to me).

Anyway, thanks for any advice you can give

 

[Cara]

Everyone incubates at different humidity levels, but yours sound way too high to me. 50% is fine for now, and 60-65 for hatching. Too high humidity causes far more problems than too low.

 

[princessmama]

Ok, hmmm. I've just been reading about these really high humidity levels for incubating ducks. I thought 85-90% sounded awfully high but I've never done this before and am going by what I read here and other websites.

 

[al6517]

You could also use a small spray bottle and mist the eggs.

AL

 

[princessmama]

I do mist them which is when the humidity (and temp!) go up for a little while. Maybe 20 minutes, or a little longer.

 

[cici_p]

I think the 85-90 is the wet bulb reading. I have seen 60-65% for incubating ducks until hatching, but other people use dry hatch method.

 

[thebigroo]

I use sponges the extra surface area is greater than just the bottom being covered in water. The sponge also wicks up the water into tiny tubes and the air circulation of the air increases the humidity. Hope this helps.

 

[princessmama]

Thanks

I'll get a couple sponges and see what happens