Oops I think I killed them all

[MMPoultryFarms]

LOL I was experementing with some eggs in a new incubator. and the pan dried out on me. on day 18 I filled it up and my humidity spiked to 78 I am on day 20 and no pips I was experimenting with a still air hatch. to bad I only had good quality eggs in there. So yea whats the trick to still air hatching. I have 5 incubators and buying a new sportsman 1502 just curious as I have never done a still air hatch. I had 50 eggs in there. and Im gonna guess I drowned them all. anyone got any links or info on still air hatching?

 

[chickened]

Still airs are notorious for being late or early I would wait. If your temp average was low they will all be late. Just a possible answer here.

 

[dsqard]

The eggs in the bator are probably fine. If it was a spike and now it is at the level you want it at I would say don't panic. If your air cells looked good at day 18 they are not going to drown from a humidity spike. The only way they would drown is if your humidity was high the entire time of incubation and the air cell is not big enough when they internally pip. Good luck on your hatch!

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

alrighty Will keep em down for 2 more days then sacrifice another 50 eggs LOL hatching is so fun. 500 chicks on the ground and 600 more coming this month LOL

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
x100! Having a steady humidity is of MUCH less importance than having a steady temperature. Eggs lose moisture by evaporation through their shells, very very gradually over the whole incubation period, and so brief changes won't do much damage. You could have a humidity spike of 100% and as long as you got it evened out by the end of the day there probably wouldn't be any harm done. Same goes for very low humidities if your water dish dries up...

If you were aiming for 40% humidity throughout but realise that it's been at 50% for a couple of days, you can compensate by reducing it to 30% for a couple of days before bringing it back up to 40% again. Obviously it's best if you can keep a steady humidity, but it's not absolutely necessary to the same degree as it is with temperature, where even a few degrees too high for a couple of hours can wipe out your entire hatch...

 

[clairabean]

Yup. Leave them and see.

 

[Cetawin]

Great advice, giving them a couple of days and candle them before you pitch. The eggs can handle a humidity spike like that if the temps are good and the humidty normalized.

Good luck.

 

[ModernGameGrl]

I use a little giant still air last year when I used one I maid sure it always had water and kept the humidity consistent and never had a really good hatch. This year I didn't put any water in until day 18 and I have 4 out of 9 eggs pipped so far much better than previous years. Just what I do.

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

Yea someone told me not to use styrophome incubators. So I had one laying around and thought I would just play with it. well my temps dont budge on any of my incubators. But humidity did reach 79 or so before it settled all i did was fill up the bottom part of the bator I didnt even fill all the trays just the middle one and it shot up We will see what happens

 

[Needycowgirl]

I did a "dry" incubation this last small batch. And then humidity was around 70-75. They hatched out just fine. BUT they didnt hatch until day 23 so dont do anything until day 25.
GL