Incubating help needed!

[Hayley386]

hi all,
Have decided to have a go at incubating silkie eggs instead of buying them as chicks and need some help.
Have purchased a janoel-10 but would like some advice on how to get the best results. It has a temp control but no humidity reader so I’m really nervous about getting the humidity wrong. Also unsure of how much water to put in the channel in the middle (and how this affects the humidity levels) was going to purchase a humidity reader but there’s no way I can keep it i there without the lid being a jar. Please help! Thank you

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Humidity a few points one way or the other won't kill embryos, temp is KEY.

Are you able to tell what your humidity is when the bator is completely dry before adding water to the channel? Some places no water will need to be added. Others may require full wells. What is your room humidity?

I would look into another hygrometer that will fit inside or drill a hole to run the sensor through.

Good luck and happy hatching!

 

[Hayley386]

Thank you! Have ordered a meter that fits inside. Not sure what the humidity of the room is without a meter

 

[Anagram]

Welcome!! I see that you ordered a hygrometer but As additional information: I found a small temp/hygrometer in the reptile section of my local "PetSmart" which is a large, small animal/fish shop. It was about $12. You can also look on Amazon.com or google them. Some folks have found a nice digital one at WalMart. I am happy with my analogue one.

Good luck with your Silkies! I loved my silkies when I had them.

 

[Hayley386]

Super! Thank you! So nervous but very excited x

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Thank you! Have ordered a meter that fits inside. Not sure what the humidity of the room is without a meter

Were your eggs shipped? Have you read the section on hatching shipped eggs yet? A fantastic resource...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hatching-eggs-101.64195/

I use 35-40% humidity days 1-18 for all my chicks including Silkies. And 60-65% for hatching. Fantastic hatch rates.

 

[Hayley386]

Thank u so much x

 

[Hayley386]

Were your eggs shipped? Have you read the section on hatching shipped eggs yet? A fantastic resource...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hatching-eggs-101.64195/

I use 35-40% humidity days 1-18 for all my chicks including Silkies. And 60-65% for hatching. Fantastic hatch rates.

What temp did u set?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

In my still air incubators I set it at 102 as measured at the top of the eggs. In my forced air bators I set it 100.

In both types I find it still important to move the eggs to a new location inside in order to help the embryos develop evenly and hatch as closely together as possible. Not sure if the smaller incubators have less variance in them than my larger ones do.

Resting shipped eggs, not turning for the first several days, and hatching upright if your air cells are detached are a couple quick notes.. in case you hadn't come across them yet.