Incubators Anonymous

[TNBEARCHICK]

Can hear turkeys in our hatcher this morning

 

[rnt2005]

Well. Its hatch day!! This morning I already had 10 of 17 Buff Orps & 2 of 4 EE's.
Had a major humidity drop overnight and a BO that was half zipped when I went to bed was dried up and STUCK, but still breathing. So I assisted. Idk if it'll make it, seems pretty weak.
Another EE has popped out, and the 4th is pipped. Lost 1 BO egg yesterday, so just 5 left that haven't done anything yet!!! Gonna KILL me waiting to see if my drop in humidity last night killed the rest!!

I had the same thing happen last hatch... Very disappointing. I ended up having to help several and the last 2 I helped which would have never made it out have since died after 3 days of nursing... I don't know what drops the humidity like that but I did read the temp should be around 98 for hatch... That's where I went wrong. Hoping yours make it through. Congrats on you new babies!

 

[rnt2005]

Ok I would like your advice on this little one. She pipped last night and sometime between 1am and 6am she hit a vein. Shes still alive and I see her trying to peck her way out but she hasn't made any progress in 6 hours. Should I give her more time before maybe seeing if some blood glued her in place? I want to avoid opening the bator if possible as I have several pips but I dont want to lose her either...

Hi. I was just wondering how your chick made out? I know hatching can be super stressful but it's definitely a good learning experience.

 

[chickensnbees]

Well. Its hatch day!! This morning I already had 10 of 17 Buff Orps & 2 of 4 EE's.
Had a major humidity drop overnight and a BO that was half zipped when I went to bed was dried up and STUCK, but still breathing. So I assisted. Idk if it'll make it, seems pretty weak.
Another EE has popped out, and the 4th is pipped. Lost 1 BO egg yesterday, so just 5 left that haven't done anything yet!!! Gonna KILL me waiting to see if my drop in humidity last night killed the rest!!

I had the exact opposite happen to me on Monday. When a bunch started hatching, my humidity shot up to 80% and I didn't even have any water in it! Only 19 of 41 hatched and when I candled the next day, all of the eggs had fully developed chicks with water in the air cells! It was heartbreaking. How do you lower humidity with no water in the bator, all vents pulled without dropping the temp dangerously low?

 

[rnt2005]

I had the exact opposite happen to me on Monday. When a bunch started hatching, my humidity shot up to 80% and I didn't even have any water in it! Only 19 of 41 hatched and when I candled the next day, all of the eggs had fully developed chicks with water in the air cells! It was heartbreaking. How do you lower humidity with no water in the bator, all vents pulled without dropping the temp dangerously low?

Well gee, I'm sorry for your stressful hatch as well. I wonder what we need to do differently?

 

[lazy gardener]

I bet they'll be fine, especially if they haven't pipped yet. I opened a couple of quitters yesterday, for a look-see. There wasn't even a visible embryo, just some blood staining in the yolk. But, the membranes were so tough that I could barely get through them. It makes me marvel that a chick could pip through that stuff.

 

[sonderah]

I had the exact opposite happen to me on Monday. When a bunch started hatching, my humidity shot up to 80% and I didn't even have any water in it! Only 19 of 41 hatched and when I candled the next day, all of the eggs had fully developed chicks with water in the air cells! It was heartbreaking. How do you lower humidity with no water in the bator, all vents pulled without dropping the temp dangerously low?

Only thing I can think is maybe a dehumidifier in the room??
I'm working now on moving my entire "process" to a whole different room. Nothing in my house is stable, but hopefully less issues in an unused room.

 

[chickensnbees]

Only thing I can think is maybe a dehumidifier in the room??
I'm working now on moving my entire "process" to a whole different room. Nothing in my house is stable, but hopefully less issues in an unused room.

I thought about that too, but the hydrometer I set up in that room consistently reads 10%. I'm moving the bator to my walk in closet for the next hatch - it also shows 10% humidity. My house stays very dry in the winter. I have a 2nd bator currently with ducks in it and I'm afraid to add water in case I have the same problem! The duck bator is currently at 20% and I sponge the eggs when I turn them.

 

[ozexpat]

I had the same thing happen last hatch... Very disappointing. I ended up having to help several and the last 2 I helped which would have never made it out have since died after 3 days of nursing... I don't know what drops the humidity like that but I did read the temp should be around 98 for hatch... That's where I went wrong. Hoping yours make it through. Congrats on you new babies!

I had the exact opposite happen to me on Monday. When a bunch started hatching, my humidity shot up to 80% and I didn't even have any water in it! Only 19 of 41 hatched and when I candled the next day, all of the eggs had fully developed chicks with water in the air cells! It was heartbreaking. How do you lower humidity with no water in the bator, all vents pulled without dropping the temp dangerously low?

Once you have the first few chicks hatch the humidity is always going to skyrocket. The chicks are tiny wet sponges evaporating.

This increase on humidity should not effect your hatch. If you have had fully formed chicks that did not hatch out it's more likely to be from too high a humidity or even too low a humidity during the first eighteen days.

To trouble shoot have a look at the dead in shell chicks. Of the air cell is small then it was high humidity during incubation.

The only way to really get to understand your hatch in your environment is to weigh the eggs at weekly interval s and reach the weight loss.

In my high humidity environment I run a dehumidifier to keep the room at forty percent humidity. The room is at about eighty five degrees during the day. As increased temp will lower humidity on the incubator, the humidity in the incubator runs at thirty percent. It's so constant now that I don't even check incubator humidity any more add long as the dehumidifier ours up and running.

Once lockdown starts I use a Hatcher outside my incubation room. The ambient humidity is over seventy percent so I don't add water.

The chicks cause a big rise in humidity and often their is condensation on the plexiglass top.

The only time I have shrink wrapping outs on a egg that takes too long to go from pip to zip. With local eggs that is very rare and m my hatch rate is eighty eight to ninety seven percent.

On shipped eggs I last set 235 and hatched 115 - a 49% hatch rate. This is very good in my opinion. Three had zipped but did not hatch and five had pipped and stalled. The problem for me with a huge shipped batch is the unpredictability of when each batch will start pipping as eggs from one supplier will start at a different time to the next supplier even of the same breed. Having ten our twelve different breeds or supplies can make my hatch last three days. I have to balance getting chicks out versus waiting for stragglers.

This whole humidity issue is very personal. What works for me may not work for you. It's a game of trial and error. If you have the luxury of home grown fertile eggs then you can experiment at no great cost. I've am not sure where you are at with experience and availability of local eggs but if you don't have a source try craigslist or local BYCers, hatch as many eggs as you can and take notes.


Good luck

 

[rnt2005]

I thought about that too, but the hydrometer I set up in that room consistently reads 10%. I'm moving the bator to my walk in closet for the next hatch - it also shows 10% humidity. My house stays very dry in the winter. I have a 2nd bator currently with ducks in it and I'm afraid to add water in case I have the same problem! The duck bator is currently at 20% and I sponge the eggs when I turn them.

Just curious, are you using more thank one hydrometer? Maybe it's not accurate? Also I did the dry hatch method this time and I really think it allowed the air cells to be too big and the chicks couldn't position correctly. Maybe that is what made them drown for you? Plus what did you mean about all vents pulled without dropping the temp low?