Is it Possible to have " too much" Humidity? (INCUBATION)

[Lazy Farmer]

[QUOTE="
I will update this thread in a bit. Hopefully with positive results.
I'll be back in a little while!
Thanks for reading and contributing!
Back to the peeper factory!
F.C.
(Edited for spelling not content)

So far.. 3 chicks form the incubator and 1 chick from the Broody Hen. All kicking like a mule!
Moma sow has her nest built. Her breathing is not laborer that much. She is in the nest though. I hope she delivers at night because we have an extreme heat index right now.
I pulled the chicks out of the bator. They think they are soccer stars. I don't want them to flip over the other peepers and drown them. Gunna grab the broody hen chick in a minute. She pecks hard!
More pics soon!
[/QUOTE]
View media item 78936734 happy campers! 3 from bator, 1 from broody hen.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

So far.. 3 chicks form the incubator and 1 chick from the Broody Hen. All kicking like a mule!
Moma sow has her nest built. Her breathing is not laborer that much. She is in the nest though. I hope she delivers at night because we have an extreme heat index right now.
I pulled the chicks out of the bator. They think they are soccer stars. I don't want them to flip over the other peepers and drown them. Gunna grab the broody hen chick in a minute. She pecks hard!
More pics soon!

This is why I prefer incubation in a controlled environment vs broody hens, although we still do both:
View media item 7893672Poor little dude was under a couple of eggs in the nest. She hatched 2 so far but 1 didn't have a much luck. She has a bunch more out there with peeps. Gotta stay on top of the grabbing them before they get in harms way.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I seem to have taken some control over the humidity problem. The chicks are not gooey and are drying fast. No cords sticking to shells.
I recommend everyone to buy a aux Hydrometer to tweak their LG incubators.
Not done yet. More to come. Back in a bit! Laundry day!

 

[Lazy Farmer]

 

[AmyLynn2374]

UP DATE: 7/6/17 9:33 AM
ANOTHER HATCH DAY, TODAY IN DIFFERENT INCUBATOR.
I HAVE 3 LG's. All in operation. Staggered start dates of about 10 days give or take.
TODAY IS HATCH DAY with a different bator than the last hatch which was the premise of this thread.
The lcd display on all of them are all a guide line setting. They will ball park the settings. It is up to me to tweak the desired settings by means of more accurate measurement of heat and moisture.
I have the temp set to 102.5° F on the factory meter and 2 calibrated aux thermometers both read 99.5° at egg level.
Here is the puzzlingly part to me..
The Relative Humidity level read last night on day 20.. 26% on the factory and 75% on my aux Hydrometer, so I thought I was out of the woods.
This morning I have about 17 peepers out of 39 candled eggs, pecking away. Now my Humidity jumped thru the roof. I am at 90%!!!
Last night I drained 2 journals and 1 was already empty from the cheep Styrofoam housing, in an effort to not have a trash bag full of drown chicks like the previous batch.
The room temp is at 78° F. The room Humidity is at 57%.
I have both air vent plugs removed and the windows are so wet it is raining in the bator again!
Desperate to avoid a catastrophic event again, I reached in with a paper towel and dried the windows to keep the drip from falling on my peepers so they don't steam bath.
Our hatch rates were better than 80% before our current rain season started. It rains here every day. I stopped checking my rain gauge a week ago because it is always full. I need a rain gauge that measures feet not inches!

I returned the humidity back down to 75% by wiping out as much condensation as I could without letting out too much heat.
I will update this thread in a bit. Hopefully with positive results.
BTW.. My Berkshire Sow is in labor! Hatch day and baby Berk day!
I'll be back in a little while!
Thanks for reading and contributing!
Back to the peeper factory!
F.C.
(Edited for spelling not content)

Once they start pipping the humidity can shoot up, especially with multiple pippers. Mine often shot up to 85-90%, but I don't ever have condensation accumulating because I'm a hands on hatcher, so it doesn't normally have time to. Lol

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Once they start pipping the humidity can shoot up, especially with multiple pippers. Mine often shot up to 85-90%, but I don't ever have condensation accumulating because I'm a hands on hatcher, so it doesn't normally have time to. Lol

Me too. I grab them 2 to 5 mins after zip. I don't want roll over's. I have been wiping the top each time to prevent drip. 30 mins later the windows are completely covered with condensation again.
Thanks for following, reading and replying!
I have !more to come. Maybe some piglet pics this evening.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

This is why I prefer incubation in a controlled environment vs broody hens, although we still do both:
View media item 7893672Poor little dude was under a couple of eggs in the nest. She hatched 2 so far but 1 didn't have a much luck. She has a bunch more out there with peeps. Gotta stay on top of the grabbing them before they get in harms way.

Second fatality from Broody Hen. This one looks like it suffocated. It made out from the shell but the heat index is well over 100° right now. You can feel the steam in the air. The dead chick was so hot when I picked it up. Felt like I just pulled it from an oven.
View media item 7893674
On a brighter note, the controlled environment just gave me another kicker! Drying off fine with it's buddies. Checking out the new strange world.
Humidity still under control at 72%

 

[Junochick]

Second fatality from Broody Hen. This one looks like it suffocated. It made out from the shell but the heat index is well over 100° right now. You can feel the steam in the air. The dead chick was so hot when I picked it up. Felt like I just pulled it from an oven.
View media item 7893674
On a brighter note, the controlled environment just gave me another kicker! Drying off fine with it's buddies. Checking out the new strange world.
Humidity still under control at 72%

Sorry to hear you lost two under broody hen, poor babies

 

[ChcknNurse]

Our problem resulted from trusting the inferior hydrometer built into the hobby bator. We have bought 3 aux meters, one for each lg. All Bator's meters are highly inaccurate. Worthless. To say the least.

I'm not quite sure if by "all bators" if you mean all of yours. My Brinsea Octagons do not have digital thermometers, but use the basic mercury type (not sure what they are filled with these days). They have been quite reliable in these 2. I still use the Brinsea Spot to double-check.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I'm not quite sure if by "all bators" if you mean all of yours. My Brinsea Octagons do not have digital thermometers, but use the basic mercury type (not sure what they are filled with these days). They have been quite reliable in these 2. I still use the Brinsea Spot to double-check.

Little Giant Styrofoam Incubators is the reference.