problems at the end

[wilkey44]

Quote:
have you ever had a camp fire, burn barrel or sauna just about any kinda fire that you have put water on and had all that steam come up and hit you in the face that would be pretty close to what a chick gets when it goes from 0% humidity in the airsack to 70% water in the air going into its tiny lungs

 

[halo]

A chick still in the egg is not at 0% humidity. Probably closer to 50%. You probably are running the incubator a bit high in humidity. I have found very few issues with people running incubators too dry, but many many issues with running them with humidity too high. I dont know if you have calibrated your hygrometers, but it might give you a better idea where you actually are. I was having lots of problems myself, and I finally calibrated. I was nearly 15 points off. If in doubt, always run a little lower than higher as far as humidity goes. Ive had chicks "accidentally" hatch in my hova, which I was only using for the first 18 days, and transferring to an Eco for hatching. I was keeping the hova very low, wouldnt add water until the hygrometer got around 20%, maybe every 3 or 4 days (if I remembers). I miscounted one hatch, and they hatched in the hova with no additional humidity, and were just fine.

 

[dwegg]

OMG!!! I have a Hovabator and this is my first hatch...I have been very careful to keep the humidity between 50-55% and go into lock down on Tuesday...I'm in GA and should I be worried now? Have I kept it too high? is 70% too high for lockdown?

 

[pokey]

Quote:
I use a digital.the last two hatches I also put in a hygrometer that is normally placed in reptile tanks.there was a weird difference.the digital reads like 15 points less, but the temp part is correct.so can u calibrated a digital?

 

[sheilawagner]

I've just started learning how to hatch, but I found this article to be amazingly useful for me.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=113681&p=3

I do not have a hygrometer in the bator, I bought one, but it was so lousy (inaccurate and faulty), I threw it aside. So we've been trying by instinct and trial and error. All we do is add water every 3-4 days, we actually do allow the hova to dry up inside, bone dry. Even for 24 hours. Then we add water again. We have all the vent holes open for the first 18 days. Then on day 18 we add more water to the pan, close up the vents during lockdown, and when we start seeing pipping and zipping, we open up one vent hole for more air circulation ("A Guide to Better Hatching" states that at the moment of hatching they need more oxygen so air circulation is crucial at that moment), and leave the other closed for humidity. It seems to work.

We put 4 eggs in the hova, and all 4 hatched successfully. And this we did without the hygrometer. We just listened to people's advice about not adding too much water and drowning the chicks. It was a clean hatch. Not much blood at all. The chicks dried up and all are doing fine, except for 1, because its foot was messed up. But it was our own fault because we lost power and the fact that these 4 chicks hatched at all was a miracle.

 

[kerriliane]

My last hatch I ran dry, and added some water into the bottom at hatch time, and 50% hatched.
I didn't add much water, and i found when I thought 'I should add more' and put more water in.. the chicks just stopped hatching.

 

[halo]

Ive stopped using a hygrometer too. I hatch mine out in a Brinsea Eco 20. I just fill up the trays with water at day 18, put the eggs in, and in 3 days I open and take out chicks. Much less stress than fretting over humidity. Just remember, too much humidity is killer. When in doubt, err on the lower side.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
I use a digital.the last two hatches I also put in a hygrometer that is normally placed in reptile tanks.there was a weird difference.the digital reads like 15 points less, but the temp part is correct.so can u calibrated a digital?

Yes, and I bet when you do it, you will find that you have been locking down at around 90% - that would make it near impossible for them to survive. I had that issue with a couple of hatches before I found out I needed to calibrate the thing!

 

[pokey]

Quote:
I use a digital.the last two hatches I also put in a hygrometer that is normally placed in reptile tanks.there was a weird difference.the digital reads like 15 points less, but the temp part is correct.so can u calibrated a digital?

Yes, and I bet when you do it, you will find that you have been locking down at around 90% - that would make it near impossible for them to survive. I had that issue with a couple of hatches before I found out I needed to calibrate the thing!

So is there a link on how to calibrated a digital?

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Yes, and I bet when you do it, you will find that you have been locking down at around 90% - that would make it near impossible for them to survive. I had that issue with a couple of hatches before I found out I needed to calibrate the thing!

So is there a link on how to calibrated a digital?

You do it the same way as any other hygrometer. 1/2 cup salt, 1/4 cup water in a mug seal the mug and the hygrometer in a baggie for 12 hours. It should read 75%, and you adjust from there.