startin over!! please help

[woogie g3]

ok my first hatch didnt do so well do to my mistakes!!!

im going to try again. i have 3 new and better thermometers/ hydrometer

i have a still air incubator. my questions..!

in the first days what does the humidity need to be??
and what does it need to be during lockdown???

and a another thing i read somewhere that a still air needs to be hotter than 99.5...if this is true what temp. do i need.

im doing a test run planning on setting them this weekend
any info would be great!! thanx!

 

[woogie g3]

come on people someone help me

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't use a still air. Please bear that in mind when you read this.

I've read that a still air needs to be about 101.5 at the top level of the eggs. The temperature in a still air can be different in different locations, so it is best to move them around every few days, either when you turn them of refill the water container.

You'll get a lot of different answers on the humidity question. I don't think there is one correct answer for all of us. Different people are successful with different humidities. I think that the higher your altitude the higher your humidity needs to be, but I don't know that. I seem to be successful with 45% to 50% the first 18 days then 65% to 70% for lockdown in my 1588 forced air. The humidity jumps up much higher when they start to hatch and that seems to be OK.

Good luck!

 

[ChooksChick]

I have 6

Taken from my post on another thread you might find helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=388213

>>I have 6 LGs.

I also have an rcom and a hovabator.

The rule is: get the temp right with it empty, and make sure it's stable for 48 hours without the plugs, without you touching it. Use 3 (yes, 3!) of the sealed in glass aquarium thermometers from Wally World ($1.70 each, I always have at least a dozen on hand). They need to be on the turner, wedged between eggs so you can read what the center of the egg is, internally. This is the only reliable way, as the thermometers on cardboard change with humidity changes, and they tell you the top temperature or the temp on the floor! Took forever to figure out it wasn't really spiking as badly as the thermometer said, but was due to the cardboard shrinking and swelling from humidity!

When you put eggs in, it will take hours to get stable again- ignore it!!! Don't adjust it at all. After a day with eggs, you can put a plug in to go up a degree or two. You can add another plug if you need to. If you're too hot the day after you add eggs, you can turn the thing down A HAIR. That's all. Don't adjust again for a day- be patient. Don't dismiss this recommendation. You can go up a degree or two per plug you add at this point, too. Try not to use the knob to adjust.

If the temp isn't too hot- like 102* consistently, I don't turn it down. If it's not below 98* consistently, I don't turn it up. I add a plug and wait 24 hours. I haven't adjusted my thermostat in 6 months. You can get it stable. My incubators are always full. So are my brooders.

Ignore humidity until day 18. For lockdown, roll up paper towels and stuff them in the water channels, then fill the channels. Lay another paper towel across the wire. Put the eggs on the now wet paper towel and make sure the whole lot stay wet for 3 days while in lockdown.

I've hatched hundreds or thousands of eggs this way- YOU HAVE TO GET IT STABLE BEFORE YOU ADD EGGS.

 

[Lobzi]

Dont fuss so much is my advice. My grandpa used to hatch eggs by incandescent light bulbs as the heat source. He did nothing else special but wait out the 3 weeks.

 

[vetgirl00us]

lol I agree with Lobzi. Set your temp, pour some water in put the eggs in and leave it alone, turn them once in awhile and I get pretty good hatches.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

click on the August hatchalong thread and the very first post is by Save the Faverolles and it is VERY HELPFUL..trust me I did 2 tries before i started getting pretty good success...good luck..the most important thing is to NOT give up.