Is my humidity too high?

[Strix-Aliana]

I just started day 17 and maintained a humidity level of about 55% this whole time. I had read on a blog to keep it at about this level but now that I am on this site I have been reading that it’s actually supposed to be closer to 30%… i candled them and I have been seeing movement this whole time. What should I do, just keep it the way I have been doing and raise it at lockdown?? I’m worried. Incubating bantam eggs BTW (silkies).

 

[Strix-Aliana]

I checked the air cells and they all look pretty good… maybe one or two are slightly smaller than I’d like but not too far off.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Good morning!
Is there anyway you can submit a photo of the aircells of the eggs you are worried about?
55% is fairly high humidity in my mind, though I dry incubate (35-45%).
I also draw a line on the eggs to mark the air cell, so I can keep track of their size.
This is useful for monitoring the need to increase or decrease humidity. Some people will weigh their eggs periodically during incubation instead to monitor weight loss in the eggs.
If the air cells are too small, you still have a few days to correct this. You can drop your humidity and wait until you see the first PIP before increasing it. This does require that you keep a close eye on your eggs. I usually do not increase humidity until day 19 or when I see the first PIP which ever comes first.
Photo below show some of my silkie eggs with the aircell markings on them.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

You're going to get mixed answers. The issue with humidity is that you need to take into account the ambient humidity of where you are hatching. This means that's different locations require different humidity levels for optimum hatch rates. The best way to know what humidity level is best for you is to weigh the eggs individually on a gram scale before you incubate and then weigh them when you candle. A chicken egg incubated at the correct humidity should lose a where from 11-13% of it's water weight by day 18. A good example is when I lived on the east coast 20 minutes from the ocean (always humid) I found that dry hatching worked best. Now that we have moved to the Midwest (a lot less humidity comparatively) I have found that with keeping the humidity between 40-50% I have good hatch rates and my eggs lose the correct weight by lockdown (I usually try to keep it in the lower 40s). You can also use the air cell as a humidity indicator. Here are some charts to help guide you.