Incubator Humidity

[AlleysChicks]

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

ok keep track of the air cell like the pic I posted above.

 

[jennyhenny54]

Thank you for your reply!! I am so excited to get some babies!! My mille that I have now is the cutest thing ever!!

 

[AlleysChicks]

60-80!? That’s only for lockdown hun. Are you shining light into the big end of the egg? I’d leave it dry until the catch up on proper size.

 

[JaeG]

Have you got your vents open? That should help a bit. Try running it dry for a few days but I've read the humidity still shouldn't drop below 25%. Check at day 10 again and see if the air cells have appeared. Each incubator and situation is completely different so it's all trial and error until you work out what works for your particular situation.

 

[jennyhenny54]

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.

 

[beetandsteet]

I don't even worry about humidity until day 18, and in mine it always stayed around 30%, even in the winter when the air is dryer. The instructions that come with the incubators are wrong, throw them away. There's nothing wrong with the air cell being a little on the bigger side; the humidity becomes important when the babies are hatching. Too low humidity and they're likely to stick to the shells. I keep my humidity between 60-70% during lockdown. I like to use wet rags for humidity; as the chicks dry out in the incubator a layer of fuzz will coat the tops of water reservoirs and can sometimes cause a sudden drop in humidity. Good luck with your hatch!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The size of the egg doesn't matter. It is the size of the air cell in relation to egg size or said another way, percentage of total egg weight lost.
Since you are a week in, I would just run it dry for a while to see where you get.
If you think your hygrometer is accurate, take it outside and put it in the shade. Go in and put your zip code in the Accuweather website and see what your local ambient humidity is. Then go outside and see what your hygrometer reads.

 

[WVduckchick]

Maybe this article will help
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubation-humidity.73386/

 

[aart]

If you think your hygrometer is accurate, take it outside and put it in the shade. Go in and put your zip code in the Accuweather website and see what your local ambient humidity is. Then go outside and see what your hygrometer reads.

Not sure I'd count on accuweather....better to use the salt slurry in bag method.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

 

[HuffleClaw]

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??