Simple Q: Humidity?

[yinepu]

Quote:
i would have a bator full of dead chicks if I did that

basically it depends a lot on where you live.. I'm in a very dry area (during the summer it was between 23 & 26% humidity in my home).. so I had to incubate at 45% humidity and at lockdown I always aim for around 80% or higher

for someone who lives in a very humid area they would need to go a lot lower with their incubation humidity

so it's not written in stone.. pretty much see what other people in your area are incubating at and use that as a starting point then alter it depending on the air cell size.. or what some people do is weigh their eggs before incubating.. then they aim for a percentage of weight lost (for chickens I have seen 13% recommended by Brinsea and many universities.. for other types of birds the percentage would be different) during incubation and adjust their humidity from there.. they weigh the eggs periodically throughout incubation to see if they are losing enough weight or too much as time goes by.. if the eggs are losing weight too fast they increase humidity.. too slowly and they lower the humidity

shows what the size of the air cell should be during incubation

personally I go by air cell size since I can tell at just a glance on most eggs by holding an LED flashlight to the air cell and I don't even have to touch the eggs

 

[AlienChick]

That is very informative!
Thank you!

I have my humidity at 75% for lockdown and they are all hatching.
The air outside the incubator is dry.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
75% is good.. I have been going higher lately since I have been hatching out a lot of turkeys and ducks (mostly muscovys though I did have 2 "surprise" ducklings in the mix) which seem to hatch a lot better for me when I have the humidity VERY high at hatch

 

[ChickenPeep]

I live in Kansas. Would that be considered a dry area?

 

[mochicken]

I'm not far from you, I'm outside st joseph mo, about an hour north of you. I am running 48-52% humidity but this is my first hatch.

 

[ronniewayne]

i ran my 1st hatch at 42-45 then 65-70.....but i think i had it too high i hatched 39 of 50 and it looked to me like the others drowned..not sure but on this my second hatch i have lowered it to 32-35 for the 1st 18 then i will up it and see....can tell you more on the 15th...i am using a GQF sportsman incubator i dont know if that makes a difference...happy hatching

 

[cmom]

I keep my humidity between 40% and 50% and at lockdown I raise it to 65% to 70%. I have had no problems with my hatches.
I use a GQF Sportsman to incubate in and I use my LG and Hova-Bator styrofoam incubators to hatch in, but I do staggered hatches.

Some of the chicks from my last hatch going to their new home.