We have been on semi lock-down this weekend. The first chick pipped yesterday afternoon. We help with some of the shell this morning. The chick is peeping. but membrane seems to be very dried out and tough. The humidity is way up but I don't now for sure what humidity is. I don't have a meter for it. This is our first time. We are hatching eggs that I picked up at auction for 66 cents a dozen. They are supposed to be silver duckwing bantams. It took me three days after auction to find a bator for them, and decide that we were going to even try hatching. We have sixteen eggs that should hatch this weekend. Any help would be appreciated.
Humidity is the quantity of moisture in the air, you can use a bowl of water that is at 100 degrees or others use a damp sponge or washcloth. you want the humidity to be around 70 % for hatching. this keeps the baby from drying out and getting stuck in the egg (hopefully). you can get a cheep hygrometer wich measures your humidity at walmart or hardware store in your area. good luck.
Quote:Sorry you are having problems, hope it works out. Rule #1 to incubating- after you stop turning on Day 18, do NOT open the incubator. It crashes the temps and humidity and will cause the sticking you describe. No semi- lockdown. It can take 24 hours for a chick to hatch after pipping. And you really need a hygrometer in there, otherwise you don't know. Humidity stabilization is crucial to incubation. How can you know "the humidity is way up". Good luck!
OK that was hard. We got a hygrometer. It is reading 87% humidity. We had to help the chick out of the membranes. It is alive. And others are starting to hatch. I don't want to help any more!
