should my humidity remain at 75% when hatching is done?

[Cheecky B]

I've heard of many stories that chicks don't survive due to too high humidity?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Once they have hatched it’s not a problem. The problem with too high humidity comes in during incubation. The air cell does not get big enough so when the chick internal pips and switches from breathing in a liquid environment to breathing in air, there is not enough air and it drowns.

If the humidity is real high after they hatch they are real slow to dry off and fluff up. That’s not a problem in an incubator at temperature, they will not get a chill. During hatch when I have chicks hatching my humidity often spikes to 85% from the extra moisture they provide. That does not bother the late hatchers. They are slow to dry off but that is not a problem. Eventually they do.

Once the hatch is over and all are out, you can reduce the humidity if you want so they will dry faster. How depends on what incubator you have. Just don’t let them get a chill. You can also move wet chicks to the brooder as long as the brooder is warmed up and they don’t get a chill during the move.

 

[Cheecky B]

Wow thanks for the amazing reply. I'm at day 19 now and the temperature has been between 99.5 and 101. I have a still aired incubator. Is this temperature ok?

 

[Ridgerunner]

In a still air, it is very important where you take the temperature. Hot air rises. In an incubator with a fan it gets mixed up so you can take the temperature anywhere, but in a still air, you need to take the temperature right at the top of the eggs. The recommended temperature there is 101.5 instead of the regular 99 in a forced air.


If you have not calibrated your thermometer or if you were taking the temperature lower than the top of the eggs, it is quite possible your incubator is running a little warm. You can either make sure you are using a calibrated thermometer (medical ones are calibrated) and take the temperature where you re supposed to, or you can measure it exactly as you are and tweak the temperature down a half a degree to a full degree and see how your next incubation goes.

Each incubator is different, even the same make and model. You can tweak an incubator to where it is working perfectly then just move it to the other side of the same room and get different results. You can use science to get to a good starting point that will work pretty good but there is a bit of art in the final adjustments. he good thing is that you don't have to be absolutely perfect to get pretty good results.