Incubator Humidity

[jennyhenny54]

Ok so I know this topic comes with a lot of debate! LOL I have eggs in a Little Giant incubator and my humidity level has been 65ish. I have read a lot about the humidity being to high will cause the chicks to drown...Please advise. Also I have some eggs from my Mille Fluer in there. Will those eggs hatch earlier? I have heard they are harder to hatch. Any advise on this topic as well. Thank you.

 

[AlleysChicks]

So humidity. When I first started hatching I freaked out about it. It isn’t a set number, you adjust it as needed. Some people say about 35% for the first 18 days. My chicks would drown. I have to run dry (no water added by me) because the area where my incubator is has high humidity. That being said you should base your humidity on the size of the air cells of your eggs. If they are too big, add water. It is easier to add water to too big air cells than it is to take water away on too small air cells.

Another thing to mention is egg color. The lighter the eggs the quicker the air cell expands in size. The darker the egg, the harder it is to expand the air cell. Pigment of the egg shell effects the growth of the air cell.

I am adding a pic of where the air cell should be size wise for the day you are on.

Now about your Millie. It’s a bantam so MAY hatch early but not necessarily. They are no harder to hatch than other chicken eggs.

 

[jennyhenny54]

ok so I am running my incubator dry and it is staying between 45-50%. I saw air cells with an actual candling light that I bought, the air cells are on the smallish side but not bad. I will keep checking them. Since I have bantam eggs, should I raise the humidity sooner than day 18?

 

[JaeG]

Chicks don't actually drown - there just isn't enough oxygen in the air cell to sustain them until they can externally pip if the air cell hasn't grown big enough.

As AllysChicks said candling is important to monitor how the air cells are growing (plus its fascinating seeing those babies developing).

With my incubator I just fill a little cup initially because filling any of the wells causes the humidity to be too high. That said I incubated quail eggs at around 80% last summer when it was extremely humid (plus I was naughty and kept setting batches so I had staggered hatches) and I had no problems. But they were all very fresh eggs from my birds which probably helped, plus quail eggs are so tiny they must lose moisture more easily. I also have my temperature on the warm side because its temperature that's the biggest factor in assisting moisture from the egg to evaporate, especially in small, hobby incubators.

Good luck with your hatch. They are going to be adorable chicks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Sorry for hijacking the thread but, I haven’t added any water and my humidity stays at about 51-52%. Is there any way to get it down or is it okay like this??

If the humidity in your house runs high, you need to move the incubator to a small room or closet and install a dehumidifier in the same space.

Yes eggs on day 1 (started at day 0).

So you have plenty of time to make adjustments.

Ok so I am on day 7. I checked for an air cell and literally couldnt see one on any of the eggs! So I soaked up all the water out of the bottom of the humidifier to lower the humidity. But the instructions say to keep it between 60%-80%. Ugh!!! What should I do now? Please help!!

IMHO, that is too high. As @AlleysChicks said, humidity isn't a set number. Some eggs are more porous than others from different breeds. Even eggs from the same flock/same breed may vary. In the real world, a hen can't control ambient humidity. She can't control when there is a thunderstorm for days or a lengthy drought. What she does is lock in the humidity that leaves the eggs by sitting tight.
You are trying to achieve a specific weight loss, not a specific humidity.
If you know the correct humidity for good hatchability of your eggs, you can use an accurate hygrometer. If not, you have to go by air cell or weight. Weight is the most accurate way to determine correct humidity the eggs have experienced.
Any kind of egg should lose between 12% and 14% weight during incubation. That's about 0.65% per day. If you weigh at the start, day 7 and 14 to determine if they are losing too much or not enough - then adjust water accordingly.
In my early experience hatching, I couldn't find an accurate hygrometer that would stay calibrated so I threw them in the trash. I bought a gram scale and weigh eggs now. You can weigh eggs individually, or for lots of eggs and with the right scale, you can weigh egg trays.

Good morning. So I took all the water out of the incubator last night and the humidity was higher this morning at 71%! LOL So I took the second vent cover off. We will see if this helps. Should I try raising the temp? it is pretty steady at 99.6. Also I have staggered hatches in there, can I leave the egg turner in there while the chicks are hatching? It is all plastic and is one of the super slow turners that takes hours to make one rotation.

Don't raise the temperature. Temperature and turning are much more important than humidity.
What kind of incubator are you using? If your ambient humidity is high, there isn't a lot you can do. If it is below about 50%, you can crack the incubator occasionally to wick off humidity.
For a staggered hatch, you can leave the turner in there if necessary but it can't be turned on. While the older eggs are in there, I wouldn't worry about turning for the day or two it takes them to hatch. That said, frequent turning the first 10 days is critical. I do staggered hatches frequently but I don't add new eggs if there are others due to hatch soon.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It is just a quickie test.

 

[AlleysChicks]

Sorry for hijacking the thread but, I haven’t added any water and my humidity stays at about 51-52%. Is there any way to get it down or is it okay like this??

do you have multiple hygrometers to check to make sure that’s accurate? Sometimes 1 will get crazy numbers so backups are great.

I’ve not really had a really high humidity like that but have read on here that people put dry rice to try to drop the humidity.

 

[HuffleClaw]

do you have multiple hygrometers to check to make sure that’s accurate? Sometimes 1 will get crazy numbers so backups are great.

I’ve not really had a really high humidity like that but have read on here that people put dry rice to try to drop the humidity.

It’s accurate. Possibly Alabama weather?

 

[AlleysChicks]

It’s accurate. Possibly Alabama weather?

probably, humidity in the room can affect it. Can you move rooms to see if it makes a difference? Do you currently have eggs in there?

 

[HuffleClaw]

probably, humidity in the room can affect it. Can you move rooms to see if it makes a difference? Do you currently have eggs in there?

Yes eggs on day 1 (started at day 0).