Official BYC Poll: What humidity do you use in incubation (first 18 days)?

[LadiesAndJane]

Even at lockdown you still don’t add water? Not questioning your process, I just want all the details before I try it. I know you are the guru of incubation!

I am hardly a guru.
No, I add water at lockdown.
The question was incubation so I didn’t write that part. I add water at day 19 or when I see the first pip, which ever comes first. Around 60% humidity but I find it does not have to be so precise. My own birds’ eggs normally hatch day 20.
Edited for spelling

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I answered the poll honestly; I have no idea. I don't even have a hygrometer for my incubators. Never had an issue with just tracking air cell growth and adjusting the vents and amount of water accordingly, even with shipped eggs. That's one less thing to constantly fret over when I've got eggs in the incubator.

 

[Caedan]

I don’t add any water during the first 18 days so it’s around 30-40%

During lockdown I add water so it’s 50-60% and once they start pipping the humidity increases to around 70%

I have had every fertile egg that I’ve incubated hatch doing this

 

[gimmie birdies]

What Caedan said.

 

[goodb]

Humidity inside the incubator controls the moisture loss inside the egg. Almost every bird egg needs to lose a certain percentage of weight/moisture for the bird to develop properly and hatch. This is accomplished through pores in the eggshell. Humidity affects how quickly this moisture evaporates through those pores.

Humidity too low can cause too much moisture loss, the air cells may get too large, the chick can get crowded, and can have a difficult time hatching. If humidity is too high, and not enough moisture is lost, then the air cells can’t grow enough, and chicks can drown; or chicks can grow too large to be able to maneuver and hatch, or there isn’t enough air in the cell for the chick to use to complete its cycle and emerge.

It’s not really rocket science for incubation purposes, and there is some flexibility, but too much to one extreme will usually cause problems. So this week we would like to know: What humidity do you use in incubation (first 18 days)?

Place your vote above, and please elaborate in a reply below if you chose "Other".

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Further Reading:

The Beginner's Guide to Incubation
Incubation Cheat Sheet
Incubation Humidity

(Check out more exciting Official BYC Polls HERE!)

Dry incubation.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

Never incubated before... hoping to soon

 

[WallyG74]

Y’all have definitely convinced me to try dry incubation. That would be sooooo much less of a headache!

 

[FlarryEyeGrey]

I aim for 35% now, although I've tried dry hatches that went as low as 16-25% with no noticeable losses!

I just got a big cabinet incubator and plan to do split hatches with 1/4 of the eggs hatching out every week, so I might experiment with keeping everything a consistent 55-60% 24/7. I'm not sure if it's going to work out better or worse than constantly alternating low/high humidity.

 

[Delmer_B]

All my chicks are hatched au naturel. Our belief is that mamas know better than us when it comes to hatching chickens.

 

[pinewoodacres]

I voted Other. I use low to mid 20s. I need to work harder to bump it up to low 30s as I’ve been having some issues with shrink wrapping and malpositioning. I have some trouble maintaining it at that level since it’s only slightly more than what it naturally levels out to on its own.

At lockdown, I bump it to 50-ish% with a wet washcloth but that does risk introducing bacteria so I will need to find another way. I spritz water when I have to open it during hatching but that doesn’t really maintain itself well overnight.