Need expert advice re humidity for one egg in bator

[oregonkat]

Hi all, I have now 27 eggs in my bator and one of them at last candle (today, day 11) seems to be losing more moisture than all the others. The air cell is still within the acceptable range but more towards the 14 day mark than the others. Is there something I can do specifically for this egg when it gets closer to lockdown to reduce the evaporation? Putting it closer to the sponge maybe? It does seem to have a slightly porous shell.

 

[oregonkat]

Anybody wanting to chime in here? Please....... pretty please.......

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Hi all, I have now 27 eggs in my bator and one of them at last candle (today, day 11) seems to be losing more moisture than all the others. The air cell is still within the acceptable range but more towards the 14 day mark than the others. Is there something I can do specifically for this egg when it gets closer to lockdown to reduce the evaporation? Putting it closer to the sponge maybe? It does seem to have a slightly porous shell.

Hi! The advice I have depends on what your incubator is like and whether you use a turner with your eggs. My incubator is homemade.

When I've had either an egg that loses more humidity or a chick that starts hatching and looks like it may need a bit of help to keep it moist because it's membrane is drying, I've put the egg in a small container with a damp paper towel hanging over the side of the container and I cover the top of the container with a sandwich baggy. The sandwich baggy is a stiff enough plastic that it stays but lets a slight amount of airflow into the container, but holds the air inside the container at a higher humidity. It's worked well for me so far.

Here's a pic of the container I use with the chick that hatched in it. The baggy is off to let the chick dry off. The dried paper towel is hanging over the side.

 

[oregonkat]

Hi! The advice I have depends on what your incubator is like and whether you use a turner with your eggs. My incubator is homemade.

When I've had either an egg that loses more humidity or a chick that starts hatching and looks like it may need a bit of help to keep it moist because it's membrane is drying, I've put the egg in a small container with a damp paper towel hanging over the side of the container and I cover the top of the container with a sandwich baggy. The sandwich baggy is a stiff enough plastic that it stays but lets a slight amount of airflow into the container, but holds the air inside the container at a higher humidity. It's worked well for me so far.

Here's a pic of the container I use with the chick that hatched in it. The baggy is off to let the chick dry off. The dried paper towel is hanging over the side.

View attachment 1271993

Thank you for responding. Your set up looks great, I will try this. You have a huge amount of eggs in there, do you do staggered hatches? My incubator is a hovabator with the turner that holds the eggs upright.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Yes, the majority of my hatches are staggered hatches. The only hatches I don't stagger hatch are eggs I buy and the last hatch. I incubate and hatch in this incubator.

Is there any space for the egg to keep it separate while the egg turner is in?