Okay, few more questions....

[AmyLynn2374]

So, my incubator is drh, probably has a drop or two of water, and it's at 38... should I leave it like that?... and just follow the steps in adding water and locking it down at day 18?

That's what I would do.

But Check them in 24 hours and make sure they are on target and don't end up too large.

 

[sonilla]

Ok... Thanks.. it will be day 17 sometime this afternoon, should I just wait til the afternoon, because I haven't added water for weeks, and just noticed that it has been dry

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Ok... Thanks.. it will be day 17 sometime this afternoon, should I just wait til the afternoon, because I haven't added water for weeks, and just noticed that it has been dry

I'd check them tonight and see how the air cells are and then if they are still small, keep it dry for another 24 and check it before you go into lockdown. If they haven't grown big enough by the end of day 18 and you do not have any pips, you can push lockdown back a day and run it one more day at dry before going into lockdown, if you really need to. But if you see any pips or hear any cheeps you need to get that humidity up for hatch.

 

[sonilla]

Can you send me a pic of how an air cell looks, I wonder if I'm confusing it for something else

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Can you send me a pic of how an air cell looks, I wonder if I'm confusing it for something else

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation look at day 16/17 at the top (left side of the egg in the pic as it's on it's side.) The very transparent "bubble" is the air cell.

These are what sizes they should be at what days.

 

[sonilla]

Thanks, and yes the air cells are a but smaller than they should be at 16th day

 

[fiset94]

I'd check them tonight and see how the air cells are and then if they are still small, keep it dry for another 24 and check it before you go into lockdown. If they haven't grown big enough by the end of day 18 and you do not have any pips, you can push lockdown back a day and run it one more day at dry before going into lockdown, if you really need to. But if you see any pips or hear any cheeps you need to get that humidity up for hatch.

I am on day 14 with these silkie chicks and I am running completely dry at the bottom channel with a sponge cut in half and wet every other day on top. With that combo I am at 38-40 humidity.

I checked my cells and they are pretty small ( day 7-10)

What should I do come lockdown and they are still tiny? You mentioned pushing back a day- do I still aim for humidity levels between 65-70?

 

[WalnutHill]

Even if the air cells are too small to be on target, you still need to provide the elevated humidity by the time of the first pip. Small air cells often lead to wet or oversized chicks, both of which struggle to hatch and survive. The chicks swallow the albumen before pipping, and if there is too much albumen they can drown, or if they are too big after swallowing to zip, they can die in the shell.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I am on day 14 with these silkie chicks and I am running completely dry at the bottom channel with a sponge cut in half and wet every other day on top. With that combo I am at 38-40 humidity.

I checked my cells and they are pretty small ( day 7-10)

What should I do come lockdown and they are still tiny? You mentioned pushing back a day- do I still aim for humidity levels between 65-70?

I would not use the sponge at all until the air cells are where they should be. On day 17 I had quite a few I felt were not as big as I wanted. I had been using one sponge and keeping my humidity at around 30%. So for that night I ran completely dry which was only 16%. All it took was maybe 12-14 hours to put them where I wanted them. I would never recommend incubating that low for the whole incubation, but if you are trying to adjust for air cells, a night or two of running under (my safe zone) 25% is going to be better than having chicks drown. So in your case, I would run completely dry for 24 hours, check and if you need another 24 hours and if so do it. Then I would go back to 30-35% until lockdown when you need 65% or more.

If you are not comfortable with running completely dry and you want to continue with what you are doing and you find they are still small at day 18, you can push lockdown back a day as long as you have no pips in the eggs, and run dry day 18-19 and then up for lockdown on day 19, but since you know now that they are small I highly recommend making the adjustment now when it is safer and you have more time.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

@sonilla How are your's looking? Any improvement?