AverellFarms
Chirping
- Mar 14, 2021
- 53
- 124
- 96
I'm sorry for beating a dead horse, as I started reading prior posts on this subject, two days ago, and understand that it's been discussed to death. BUT, I have not found any follow up posts describing the outcome.
As happened to others, i was toodling along, manually turning eggs 5 times a day, candling them and enjoying watching the embryos moving around, even catching some on video, taking average temperature readings over a course of 10 minutes from three different thermometers, adding 1 TBSP of water every couple of days, if the portable hygrometer said humidity was low, and then on Day 14, I realized that my air cells were pretty small, and I was running out of time! Having read all the advice about having a second thermometer/hygrometer, I had purchased one before I picked up my eggs, and although I've had pretty close readings in the temps, the humidity measurements were miles apart. The portable hygrometer typically read high 30% to low 40% but the one built into the Incubator always read between 48%-52%. I thought, given everything I'd read, that my numbers were acceptable, especially if I averaged the two readings. Since day 14, i have removed all water, put in small bowls of dry rice, then switched to dry couscous because i read it was more absorbant. I put in dry paper towels. I even put the eggs in the bottom half of a cardboard egg carton for a day hoping that would help draw out some moisture, and my portable hygrometer has been in the 15%-17% range for two days, but the one built into the incubator still reads 48-49%. Worse, there has only been the tiniest increase -- maybe 2 mm -- in air cell size. I've read multiple posts about this, but can't find the end of the story. Did the air cells get bigger in time? Did the chicks hatch out and survive? Is there hope? I've attached a few pictures, a Breda egg, olive eggers, an Easter egger, and the array, with lowest air cell points on top for the photo. This is the end of day 16 (with set day as 0).
As happened to others, i was toodling along, manually turning eggs 5 times a day, candling them and enjoying watching the embryos moving around, even catching some on video, taking average temperature readings over a course of 10 minutes from three different thermometers, adding 1 TBSP of water every couple of days, if the portable hygrometer said humidity was low, and then on Day 14, I realized that my air cells were pretty small, and I was running out of time! Having read all the advice about having a second thermometer/hygrometer, I had purchased one before I picked up my eggs, and although I've had pretty close readings in the temps, the humidity measurements were miles apart. The portable hygrometer typically read high 30% to low 40% but the one built into the Incubator always read between 48%-52%. I thought, given everything I'd read, that my numbers were acceptable, especially if I averaged the two readings. Since day 14, i have removed all water, put in small bowls of dry rice, then switched to dry couscous because i read it was more absorbant. I put in dry paper towels. I even put the eggs in the bottom half of a cardboard egg carton for a day hoping that would help draw out some moisture, and my portable hygrometer has been in the 15%-17% range for two days, but the one built into the incubator still reads 48-49%. Worse, there has only been the tiniest increase -- maybe 2 mm -- in air cell size. I've read multiple posts about this, but can't find the end of the story. Did the air cells get bigger in time? Did the chicks hatch out and survive? Is there hope? I've attached a few pictures, a Breda egg, olive eggers, an Easter egger, and the array, with lowest air cell points on top for the photo. This is the end of day 16 (with set day as 0).
anyway it was too late then to do anything! I increased the humidity for lockdown, all 16 out of 16 hatched fine. Mine looked exactly like yours so fingers crossed yours will hatch fine too 
