Incubation humidity

[wildweisswife]

Hello I've been reading different things about humidity but I was wondering , my humidity is at 58% , 24 hours after putting eggs in the incubator . Is this detramental to my embryos ? I haven't added water I know it will go down but should I speed up this process ?

 

[WillGriffin03]

Buy a hudometer and until the last 3 days of incubation the eggs should be at 50-55% and in the last 3 days of incubation 70-75% humidity

 

[wildweisswife]

yes I have one and I know that but that doesn't really answer the question of should I speed up the Lessing of humidity and will it affect my eggs

 

[feedman77]

Humidity is a very trial and error thing. A lot of times it is specific to your certain circumstances.

For me if I tried to incubate that high I would have a lot of drowned chicks when they pip. I get my best hatches at 25 to 35 percent during incubation. Then raise to 70 plus for hatch.

Best thing I can say is monitor the air cells. Try this batch this way. If it works try to repeat it. If it doesn't work make a change to the humidity less or more depending on the hatch this time and try again. After a couple of batches you should find what works best.

If your air cells are not getting big enough and you want to speed up humidity removal use rice in a cup in the corners of the incubator. Or some silica gel packs. Like what comes in new shoes or beef jerky.

As far as being a detriment to your eggs after 24 hours no they haven't been hurt. Just candle on day 7 and 14 to check progress.

Good Luck with your hatch.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm with feedman. Anything higher than 45% with standard eggs makes me cringe. For most table top hatchers that would drown half the chicks. I run 30% until day 18. Day 18 I go into lockdown, higher humidity to 75%.
To answer your question, being that high at start won't be detrimental to them. Humidity is detrimental as an average. Unlike temps you have plenty of room to adjust without compromise. I'll share a link with you. It's the method I use. You can empty the water and start dry, or let the humidity come back down and monitor the air cells to make sure they grow.
http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

 

[kuchchicks]

I'll second that. I am currently hatching about 120 a month and run 25/35% and the 80%. My hatch rates are in the 90s.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'll second that. I am currently hatching about 120 a month and run 25/35% and the 80%. My hatch rates are in the 90s.

Hey stranger!

 

[Matthew01]

Is it OK if my humidity goes up and down between 25 and 50 for the first 18 days.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Is it OK if my humidity goes up and down between 25 and 50 for the first 18 days.

The steadier your numbers are the better, but it all comes down to the air cell growth. Personally, I'd take out the water and if it stays above 25%, I'd run dry and monitor air cells and only add water if the air cells start growing too fast. Then I would add a wet sponge instead of messing with water wells until lockdown. Basically, I follow this method: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

 

[Matthew01]

Ok thanks.