Need incubating advice.....

[E Buschjost]

On day 12 of incubation - have weighed each egg @ 6 days and now today. Individual weights decreasing on average by about 5.5% instead of the recommended 12%. Humidity is fairly stable (I have experimented with surface area etc trying to get it perfect )
Do you think they are ok or did I kill them?
I candle them and they look good and seem to be progressing - but I’m worried about their development
what should I do to help if anything.

 

[aart]

but I’m worried about their development

Why?
Because of the weights?
I've never gone by weights, just tracing air cells on days 0-7-10-14 to adjust humidity.
Is this your first incubation?

 

[E Buschjost]

I’ve incubated eggs many many times over a 30 year span but didn’t stress over such details. I put them in, filled channels with water, filled them when they looked dry, stopped turning at about a week-ish prior to hatching and Voila! Chicks.
now I’m doing it “by the books” with my grandsons and Lordy I can hardly stop checking things - and am stressing so much about this and that. I think I need to put away my charts and graphs and logbook and go back to my old way lol. I’m a retired principal so tend to be very “perfectionist” - and if you give me a guide I will follow it to the letter! Ugh.
so worried now I’ve messed them up.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

I’ve incubated eggs many many times over a 30 year span but didn’t stress over such details. I put them in, filled channels with water, filled them when they looked dry, stopped turning at about a week-ish prior to hatching and Voila! Chicks.
now I’m doing it “by the books” with my grandsons and Lordy I can hardly stop checking things - and am stressing so much about this and that. I think I need to put away my charts and graphs and logbook and go back to my old way lol. I’m a retired principal so tend to be very “perfectionist” - and if you give me a guide I will follow it to the letter! Ugh.
so worried now I’ve messed them up.

I’ve also never gone by the weights. Just marking the air cells. Let me see if I can find an air cell candling chart somewhere. Don’t worry about it.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

I’ve also never gone by the weights. Just marking the air cells. Let me see if I can find an air cell candling chart somewhere. Don’t worry about it.

Here’s the candling chart:

 

[cmom]

I don't check the eggs anymore. I put the eggs in the incubator and set the temperature and humidity which I do check daily but candle a few eggs around day 14+/- and look for development. I candle all of the eggs on day 18/19 when I put the eggs in the hatcher and take out the obvious blanks. I mark any I think might be quitters and put them in the hatcher. A few times to my surprise I have had some of the ones I thought were quitters hatch but some don't. I have some due to hatch that are in the hatcher now. Good luck...

 

[JaeG]

Do you have a hygrometer to measure the humidity? You could run the humidity lower for the remainder of incubation and wait to increase the humidity until the eggs have pipped internally. I do not use the water channels in my incubator until lockdown because they are too large. If the humidity is below 25% I add a shot glass of water to the incubator which raises it just enough.

Humidity is a very individual thing and you have to work out what works for your incubator in your climate.