Prevent drowning

[shanshan51]

Ok I am so sad this morning. I had two eggs that were suppose to pip today and hatch by hopefully tomorrow. One pipped internally I think and drowned toons of watery yoke all over the paper towels today. I never let the humidity drp below 55% or above 85%. What happened. Could it have been pipped before lock down with pointed end down then when I moved it to lockdown in a flat position it drowned? I am about to cry!

 

[Katy]

Those humidity levels are pretty high. I never incubate above 30% and don't go above 60% for the last three days. Everyone has to figure out what works for their location, but those levels would be too high for most I think.

 

[shanshan51]

Wow I thought I read that you want humidity to be at least 65-75% during lockdown. That is what mine was. For a moment I added warm paper towels and it got to 85 but I quickly addressed that. I live in Northern California near Sacramento. I have more to hatch in next few days which just went into lockdown. They definitely were alive and moving. What should I lower it to so preventing it from happening again?

 

[Katy]

At this point in time there's not much you can do to erase the first 18 days humidity levels.....just hope for the best.

 

[shanshan51]

The first 8 days the humidity was 45-55 degrees. Is that too much too?

 

[shanshan51]

They were alive when they went into lock down

 

[clairabean]

toons of watery yoke all over the paper towels today

Makes me think that it was more than drowning. Most of my hatches (the survivors) have had drier hatchings. Meaning very little globs of... globby stuff.

Tonnes of goo makes me think the chick did not absorb it in the last day or so.​

 

[yinepu]

the humidity during incubation determines if the chick will drown.. at lockdown you want HIGH humidity.. i have had my incubators as high as 90% during hatch and never have a problem with drownings

for incubation humidity a lot depends on the relative humidity in the room where the incubator is.. for myself during the summer we have had VERY dry weather (23-26% humidity in my home).. so I usually aim for around 45% for incubation.. but for someone who lives in a humid area that may be too high and they would be better off with something around 35-40%.. or even lower

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

I never raise the humidity levels until the first egg has pipped, then you know for sure that they are ready to hatch.

Depending on the temp of your bator, sometimes the chicks can be a day or two behind. Thats why some people have chicks hatch on day 22 or 23 instead of 21. If you raise the humidity on day 18, thinking its three days ahead of your hatch, if could actually be 4 or 5. Raising it too early is what drowns the chicks.

For incubating I have the humidity set at 40% and once the first egg pips I bump it to 60-65%.

 

[Gypsy07]

"If you raise the humidity on day 18, thinking its three days ahead of your hatch, if could actually be 4 or 5. Raising it too early is what drowns the chicks."

I'd like to respectfully disagree. Raising your humidity two or three days early won't cause your chicks to drown. Having too high of a humidity the whole way through the incubation from days 1-18 is what causes them to drown. They might be alive going into lockdown, but it's still the early humidity and not the lockdown humidity that kills them. They're alive going into lockdown cause they haven't internally pipped into the air cell and started trying to breathe air yet. How could they drown before they start breathing? It's simply not possible. They drown in the excess fluid once they pip internally into the air cell, but the excess fluid is there because of the high humidity all the way through the incubation.

Like Yinepu says, you can run lockdowns at 90% humidity with no problems, as long as your eggs have already lost the necessary amount of fluid.