Newbie 1000

[newbie1000]

Hello all, I am joining today. I am in the midst of hatching eggs for my first time. I am very stressed out about my humidity level. I posted a question on the incubation thread and am hoping to hear back from someone soon! I have one little chick bouncing around and 5 unhatched eggs in there. The humidity is down to 40. I keep plugging and unplugging the plug. Not sure if i should plug it until another one pips, or just keep it unplugged for the rest of the duration. Has anyone ever dripped water in through the plug hole?

Anyway, I know this is just supposed to be an intro but I couldn't help myself! Thank you! Liza

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

How long as the chick been in the incubator? If he has been in there over 24 hours, I would get him out. Do you have any other eggs pipping? If not, it is safe to make a quick dash for the chick. And since your humidity is so low, you are going to need to open the lid to do something about it.

Get a clean kitchen sponge. I don't know how large your incubator is, but if it is pretty small, use one of those thin sponges and cut it in half. Soak it down and squeeze it out a bit. You don't want it dripping wet, but you also don't want it dry. Somewhere in between. Get the chick out if he is dry and put this sponge in there with the eggs. If your window starts to fog up, you know you have good humidity. If after an hour it is not fogged, ad the other half of the sponge wet down and squeezed out. You are shooting for 65% to 70% humidity. I have heard of even using a sanitary pad soaked down as well. A clean cotton sock will work too. Anything to add humidity. If you have the room you can put the wet sponge in a cup of water so it has constant water to wick up.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[newbie1000]

Thanks for your reply! Its too bad I didn't see it before I broke down and added some water through the plug. Has anyone ever tried that? Since we have so few eggs, we were able to do it without getting any water on the chick or the other eggs. Now I'm wondering how long to wait until I remove the chick (s/he hatched about 12 hours ago). And if I only have one chick, will it survive alone until I can find some others? Or, should I not be thinking that way because really I'm only on Day 21 now. So, anyway, I appreciate your response!! Liza

 

[mymilliefleur]

Glad you joined us!

You've got some very good advise from Two Crows.

Good luck with your hatch!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! TwoCrows gave you some good advice. You want to leave the vent wide open during hatching. You can add water though the vent hole, using either a straw/feeding tube/catheter (how most people do it), if you have the sponge/bowl right under the vent hold it makes it simpler to add the water without opening the lid. I like to remove hatched chicks about once a day, though they can go two or three days, the chicks peeping in the incubator does seem to encourage other chicks to hatch. One chick will be OK until either more chicks hatch or you find more, just be sure he has a warm brooder and you might try a small stuffed animal and mirror for company. If you are only on day 21 hopefully you will have more hatch, incubators often have warmer/cooler spots that means eggs develop at slightly different rates.

 

[drumstick diva]

Don't get ahead of yourself. But yes the chick can survive on it's own. You can give it a stuffed toy to cuddle with and a mirror, so it thinks there is another chick with it.

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm glad you joined our "flock!"

Good luck with the hatch!

 

[nj2wv]

Welcome to BYC !!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!