OMG..i feel like a murderer!!! I am done hatching. Update help!!!!

[1muttsfan]

80% humidity is not too high during hatching. Opening the incubator at that time wil dry things out too much. If your chicks were actually shrink-wrapped (there are a couple really good threads on how to tell), it would mean your humidity during incubation was too low.
if I remember right you are using a home made incubator. You might consider a premade one just to get started, it can be tricky to get an incubator adjusted right and there is an advantage in starting off with something that has the kinks already worked out. I really like my hova bator. Then when you have a little more experience you would be better able to evaluate how a homemade bator is performing.

 

[Christie Rhae]

wow..... planning my first try at hatching this summer. I am nervous.
How do you know the humidity levels? I just got my Hova bator incubator but I see no indicator that will tell me the humidity level. Is this something I can buy separate and place in incubator?

 

[kvmommy]

You need a hygrometer. You can get digital ones or cheap reptile ones or ones specially for incubating. You also need to calibrate it. There are many threads on how to calibrate. I found that of all mine, the cheap reptile one from petsmart was the best.

 

[debilorrah]

80% is WAY too high for chickens. WAY too high. That level is for ducks and I do not even recommend that for them from personal experience. Did you calibrate the hygrometer before the hatch?

 

[Attack Chicken]

Sometime we have to intervene even with broodies. The last hatch I had was of seramas and I was going through the eggs that hadn't pipped and I carefully pipped a hold near the aircell end. Lo and behold their was two chicks that were still alive. I brought them in and put them in my bator for the rest of the way. I took a Q-tip with warm water and dabbed the membrane so it was wet. Both of the chicks finally hatched but didn't look good. Gave them some polyvistal w/o iron and they both slowly started perking up. Sadly the last one that hatched was a failure to thrive and died a few days later

He/she just wasn't growing at all, but the other little chick made it through the first critical 3 weeks and she's still doing great today!

Sometimes you win some and sometimes you loose some but you gave it your best shot

If I hadn't intervened I wouldn't have this little angel with me today

 

[kvmommy]

I did...and I try to keep it between 65 and 70, but when the first chick started hatching it shot up to about 80. Thats when I opened it to let out some the humidity. I had to do it several times. Many say 80 isn't too much but it was dripping in there. And I calibrated 2 hygrometers, but one decided to break in the middle of hatching. Did I hurt the chicks by opening it to let out the humidity? I never got that low when I did it, until the wells dried up last night then dropped low. So, any advice on the chick that I opened thinking it was dead and its covered with a tight white membrane and is pulsating, but bled pretty heavily when I simply touched the membrane this morning?

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Your first sentence was your mistake. Learn from it - okay: humidity should be about 50-55%, because the first hatchling causes the humidity to rise significantly. If you start with high humidity, it is going to drown the chicks and as time goes on, the humidity diminishes and they appear shrink wrapped. Once your chicks start hatching DO NOT OPEN THE BATOR. When you opened the bator, you let the natural humidity out which is what wrapped them.

I too have made many, many mistakes in hatching. You are not alone. Each hatch is also different. I had to experiment for months before I finally found what worked for me. And 65-70 FOR ME is too high.

 

[Christie Rhae]

Quote:
Will hit up Petsmart tomorrow! thanks!

 

[kvmommy]

Ohhhh! That makes sooo much sense. Because, yeah...the humidity went up like crazy. *sigh I feel awful. I got these eggs as a consolation for my zero hatch rate for the easter hatch and now I have 1 healthy, amazing but lonely chick, 1 one half dead chick that we are trying so hard to keep alive, one egg that has the top chipped away and is wrapped but bleeding on day 24 and one pip in an egg from a later hatch that I put in yesterday. Hope this one makes it.

 

[Meara]

I just wanted to say I have been struggling with learning the ins and outs of hatching overall, and incubator humidity in particular, and know how you feel. It has been soooo stressful and there have been times I was so upset I couldn't eat. I just keep looking at the chicks I miraculously managed to NOT kill and reminding myself they wouldn't exist if I hadn't incubated those eggs.