INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

Air cell size? That is all the marks people ring their eggs with right?

You are correct. Mark those at 7, 14, and 18 days. This helps to gauge how much moisture the egg is losing during incubation... since most people don't weigh their eggs. As long as the cells are growing at a decent rate, the chick should be fine... and have enough air cell to pip into to get it's first breath.

 

[daxigait]

@Ur-ur-ur-urrrI am excited for you on your hatch. I look forward to seeing more after I get my shed done. Sooooo cute

 

[ambe0487]

I hope it works! I'm waiting for my Miss BPR to demand the others to join her in the "outside world". I say "Miss" because the dark legs and un-defined spot on the head are indicative of a female:

A www, come on out everyone! Beautiful baby. I wish my were color sexed!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

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Hello all just set my first duck eggs on Friday and have read different things about humidity on just about every website. I need some expert advice. So here I am

The paper they threw in with the eggs from the hatchery said to keep the humidity up to 86% and 94% at hatch! That seems super high to me.(My guess is this is for the commercial hatcheries?). I have looked and looked through the threads but it is hard for me to know just what a duck needs. (this is my first duck hatch and I'm a wreak already) haha. I will second guess my every move, that's just my nature. So from what I gather so far is 45-50% is ideal until hatch and hatch is 70ish? ?? Whats the expert advice here?

@chicknlove

there you are!!!! and you know thats not the right humidity!!! Typically depending on the eggs set you will start around 35% for standard eggs, this will vary between breeds, size of eggs, for example smaller eggs like my tiny serama in MY AREA IN MY HOME IN MY BATOR WITH MY FAN I have to run 55% to get the correct weight loss and then 70-75 during hatch.... So the idea is to run around 35% and candle day 7 and adjust as necessary making adjustments as you go never letting it go below 18-20% and then for lockdown again depending on weight loss, going 65-75 during lockdown.... IT ALL DEPENDS on WHAT THAT EGG NEEDS IN THE CONDITION IT IS IN... ONLY YOU KNOW THAT... YOUR HOME YOUR BATOR YOUR EGGS!

HUMIDITY
The Air Bubble in the Egg
The average chicken egg has thousands of pores running through the shell allowing the embryo to exchange oxygen, carbon dioxide. and water. Soon after an egg is laid, a small air bubble or “air cell” forms in the large end of the egg from this water loss. Humidity levels in the incubator determine moisture evaporation during the 21 days of incubation and hatching. The air cell is crucial for the chick to break out of the egg shell at the end of the incubation period. The chick can drown if the air cell is too small or the chick may be retarded in growth if the air cell is too large. This is why maintaining the proper humidity is crucial. Slightly lower humidity levels are more likely to be less disastrous than slightly higher humidity levels. There are quite a few opinions on Humidity, but it is no set number.

Humidity is NOT A SET NUMBER, you need it YES!
However, you use it as a tool to "adjust" egg weight loss during incubation. We candle on days 7,10,14,18 To WATCH WEIGHT LOSS IN EVERY EGG! An EGG MUST lose approximately 13-14% of its weight during the incubation process. THIS IS YOUR GOAL!! You can monitor this by marking Air cells and also by weighing. Please refer to CANDLING section of this Hatching Eggs 101 Article for more Air Cell info.
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Size of air cell on day 7, 14, and 18 of incubation

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WHY to MEASURE WEIGHT LOSS IN EGGS, ​

MEASURING PROCEDURES (HOW TO), HOW TO CALCULATE, and HOW to interpret RESULTS
http://www.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_Center/BB_Resources_Tools/AA_How_Tos/AAHowto1WaterLossEN13.pdf

I choose the easier method, keeping a close eye on air cell growth during incubation. You begin by ONLY adding a small amount of water and keep Humidity between 20%-30% and adjusting as you weigh or candle depending on moisture loss. IN SOME AREAS OF THE COUNTRY YOU MAY NOT NEED TO ADD ANY WATER! USE IT AS A TOOL FOR THE CORRECT WEIGHT LOSS IN THE EGG! So if your air cells look too large at each candle period you must add some humidity, too small air cell lower it, and if your weighing you adjust as needed. UNTIL DAY 18 LOCKDOWN,
then stop turning and raise humidity to 65-70%

UNDERSTANDING HUMIDITY

Views of Day 18 Candle.....
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[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

@Ur-ur-ur-urrr I am excited for you on your hatch. I look forward to seeing more after I get my shed done. Sooooo cute

Thank you, daxi... I'm excited to see you start incubating, too!!!

 

[venymae]

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@chicknlove

there you are!!!! and you know thats not the right humidity!!! Typically depending on the eggs set you will start around 35% for standard eggs, this will vary between breeds, size of eggs, for example smaller eggs like my tiny serama in MY AREA IN MY HOME IN MY BATOR WITH MY FAN I have to run 55% to get the correct weight loss and then 70-75 during hatch.... So the idea is to run around 35% and candle day 7 and adjust as necessary making adjustments as you go never letting it go below 18-20% and then for lockdown again depending on weight loss, going 65-75 during lockdown.... IT ALL DEPENDS on WHAT THAT EGG NEEDS IN THE CONDITION IT IS IN... ONLY YOU KNOW THAT... YOUR HOME YOUR BATOR YOUR EGGS!

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But @Sally Sunshine she is setting DUCKS, aren't they different???

 

[Sally Sunshine]

She just needed a little help!

Super super lucky to have a great job- just not enough hours in the day to do what I need to do, plus what I want to do - but do both anyway.
Working on some papers on bird (penguin) anatomy just now (between teaching and research).

this is great, well not great that you dont have enough hours in the day! I wish we didnt need as much sleep, I push the limits for human sleep necessity and I shouldnt... penguin anatomy! shweet!!

Sally, set a bakers dozen silkies, three clears, one quitter at day 18, so nine left in bator, three pips and one escapee so far,
Ur, I apologized in advance because I was teasing Louly about the nose prints on her bator a few hundred posts back! Lol.

a few hundred!! ha ha ha h

Humidity and weight loss?

wait what?? your kidding right?

I should add my incubator is a hovabator 1588 force air. I am using little cups of water to regulate the humidity.

perfect!!!

It does feel that way but if you do all the calibration and set up before you get eggs it's much less stressful and is still super fun.

Get yourself 2 thermometers and calibrate them. If you want to do the ice bath method and the thermometers can't get wet you can put them in a zip lock bag and then swirl them in ice water for a minute or so they shold hit 32°F. Make yourself a checklist and a shopping list to help you.
A reptile Hygrometer should work fine for the bator.
Run the bator with no water in it for a few hours to get an idea of your base humidity and then at water to reach a target of about 35%.
Let it run for a day or two with no eggs in it to see how steady it hold temp and humidity.

love you girl!! x2

@Sally Sunshine it is a brower. What do I need to get to measure humidity? It comes with a stick thermometer. Do you just put a second one in to check?

OH MY GOODNESS!!

Miss (I hope) Journey joined us today and is demanding
her sibling to get their butts out here!

is that chick out I hope???

Wow, just googled your bator. Is it one of those huge metal ones?!? COOL! First thing I'd do after cleaning it, is plug it in! I think it's a still air (as far as I can tell). Does yours have a fan?? As far as humidity gages, there are tons of different ones. I use this cheap-o one from walmart. Not super accurate, but gives you a good ballpark estimate. I also like that it tells you the temperature highs and low in the last 12hrs. That way you can see if your bator is holding steady. As far as the stick thermometer, go ahead and calibrate it using the ice method and see how accurate it is. To do that you fill a bag (or cup, whatever!) with ice - stuffed, then fill it with just enough water to be able to get the termometer in there and shake it a bit. Plunk your thermometer in the ice water for a minute or two and see how close to 32F you get. Post results here!

you guys are awesome!!

You'll need a hygrometer to measure humidity. IncuTherm Plus is what I use. The "Plus" is a thermometer and hygrometer all-in-one... and it has a remote sensor so you can keep the LCD screen outside the incubator. I bought a few Farm Innovators thermometers that I use inside the incubator. When you get those things, you'll need to check them for accuracy. Ice water test the thermometers, and there's a saltwater test to check the hygrometer.

love you guys!!!

@Sally Sunshine

Can you post an updated picture of momma and her pups!!!???

yup later on!! How are you Ross!!

I hope it works! I'm waiting for my Miss BPR to demand the others to join her in the "outside world". I say "Miss" because the dark legs and un-defined spot on the head are indicative of a female:

awwww I have no more either

 

[Sally Sunshine]

it needs to come with a tray you put all your tools on, like in the ER

Sweetheart this is all you need

 

[Sally Sunshine]

But @Sally Sunshine she is setting DUCKS, aren't they different???

DUCKS are even harder to loose weight!!

 

[gimmie birdies]

I decided to hatch before New Year's. If a hen lays an egg I don't already have in the incubator I will add it in next couple days. All the hen's have "blue" feathers.