November/December "Hatch-a-Long"

[familypendragon]

I have to figure out what makes my temp. spike at night.  I think that it's diminishing water in the well, but that's just a guess, and a non-scientific one at that.  Last night's spike wasn't as high, though (we turned the incubator down quite a bit).  It was within normal limits for a still air incubator so I'm just going to relax about it.

About hatching in the fall:  we got our four girls as one-day-old chicks last October and wintered them in the house at first, then in the garage with lamps.  It worked out well so we'll do the same thing again, only we're starting from eggs.  I liked having my girls start laying in the spring...then we got eggs from them all summer long.  Hopefully that will be the case again.

Does your heater come on at night to warm your house? I know the room temp can really change the effectiveness of the thermostat control in some bators.

 

[my sunwolf]

Does your heater come on at night to warm your house? I know the room temp can really change the effectiveness of the thermostat control in some bators.

x2 This is exactly what I was going to say. Also, my heater tends to come on more at night since it's colder and not sunny, which drastically drops the humidity in the whole house.

 

[chickydee64]

OK, Had my coffee...............
Just a quick good morning to everyone.............
And a welcome to all the new folks................

Now I am wishing I had put a few more eggs in the incubator.............
nothing happening here with the exception of my Broody Serama's.....actually both hens in the cage now...................'
I love it when more than one decides to hatch together.
Anyway, they are getting fertile eggs today Just a few to make them happy................
Wanted to mention I use two LG's It took me a bit of trial and error to get the
right temps and humidity to work for me in my area..............but hatch with them successfully all the time now......
These are still air...102 perfect..............
( and , like me, they are getting pretty darned old)
My message for the ..." DON'T GIVE UP"
Have a fun day all...........

 

[Farmer Viola]

First of all - don't worry! You/they are fine

Humidity is a factor of surface area like you said. A good way to get humidity down if you have water in any chamber is to cover a portion of it with foil. If you have NO water in it and it is that high you need to alter the room humidity if possible (turning on a heater or air conditioner in a closed room will do that). As a last resort some people have had some degree of luck putting dry rice in the bator to absorb excess moisture. Remember that the reason we aim for 45ish % humidity during the first 18 days is because we want about 13% of the eggs' water weight to evaporate before hatching to avoid a wet chick and other complications. So if it was high briefly you might let it dip down to 25% for a while if possible to make up for the lack of evaporation during that time. You can even it out over time. After lockdown the reason for raising the humidity to 65ish % is to help soften the shell for easier hatching, as well as keep the internal membrane moistened after pipping to prevent the chick from getting glued to the membrane and stuck.

Thank you!! I left a little bit of water in it over night (just 1 of the chambers) and it stayed around 65-70%. This morning, I dried it out with a washcloth and it's sitting at 63% now. I have it in a bedroom which is connected to a bathroom, so I'm thinking humidity from the bathroom air? It makes no sense to me, because there is no more water in the bator, it's just the circulating air humidity now, no surface area water remains. The bathroom fan stays on, as well as air conditioning in the bedroom with the bator and the bathroom.
I am so very nervous that I will kill my eggs!!!!

The BYC Hatching 101 guide says the goal is 55-60% humidity. But I also read that you can take it slowly from low to high throughout the hatch (start at 25-30, end at 65% on day 18)... it sounds like you aim for 45% exactly?? I will also try to let it dip down like you said, to compensate. At this point it has been 2.5 days of high humidity!!!

I am testing the humidity in 2 other rooms and I will probably move the bator into my bedroom today...

 

[keepmumsane]

 I GIVE UP ON THE INCUBATOR!!!! All Duck eggs died!!! I don't have a blessed clue what I did wrong. I am just going to wait for one of my girls to go broody! Ugh!

oh thats too rough. Sympathy.

 

[chickensnewtome]

If yours has no fan, are you aware that your temp should be 102 and not 99.5?

I am aware of that now.....

For any newbies that want some advice (like I did a few months ago when I started) about how to get better hatches without spending $300 on a new bator. IF you have an LG still air and want to have a rocking bator equivalent to the nice Hovabators you can do what I did and install an aftermarket kit called an Incukit http://incubatorwarehouse.com/48-watt-incukit-dc.html My hatches were not good until I did that and now it purrs like a kitten and I just leave it alone other than to add water if needed. Its been running continuously for months with no problems. You still need to use a hygrometer since it doesn't track humidity - and I recommend this one http://incubatorwarehouse.com/incubator-remote-thermometer-hygrometer.html as I have had great performance from it. Feel free to disregard this post if you don't need the help - I just know I spent a lot of time frustrated and researching and begging people to tell me what they did differently, LOL!

what in the world is a hygrometer....never had one.

 

[Heidisgran]

Quote: where its placed in the house will matter...it's my experience that anywhere from 25 to 40% for incubation then up to 65-70% for hatching
nearing the last week avoid letting the humidity dip below 35-40%....my last hatch the humidity dipped to 10% the day of lock down (day 18) I pumped it up and for the most part everything was okay but there were a few that obviously dried just enough that when the humidity went back up the inner membrane turned to glue....if I didn't know what was happening when they were trying to hatch it would have been fatal for them...

what day are your eggs? if you can get your humidity down to 45%...the biggest issue is making certain they dehydrate enough for them to have a big enough air cell at hatch time...I hardly ever add water until the last few days because the humidity is usually good here if there are quite a few eggs in the incubator...

you just have to figure out what's good in your environment ...maybe remove all the water put the eggs back in and watch the humidity for a while if it doesn't get high enough then add a tbsp. at a time waiting an hour or so before deciding you need more...I have a few of the incubators with the hydrometer in the lid...the temp and humidity are quite different near the eggs

Hope I haven't confused you!!

 

[keepmumsane]

Eek mine is still air set on 38.5 for my quail. ?. Too low ? :/

Sorry centigrade. ?.

 

[Heidisgran]

Eek mine is still air set on 38.5 for my quail. ?. Too low ?

for hatching?? I would think...but quail are different...you'll need to look that up...waterfowl and peafowl are in the 80s and 90s for hatch

 

[Heidisgran]

Quote: it measures the humidity...you can find them on amazon you could probably have it by tomorrow thru amazon...the probe fits right down thru the air vent or lays where the power cords fit... I've heard some find them at walmart.... they are really great for monitoring right by the eggs