They die at day 18 everytime!

[Wynette]

rizq, I typically have THREE hygros/temp units in my bator, and my bator is digital, so it should be quite accurate. I get paranoid about this stuff!

I would suggest you seriously consider the weight loss method; eggs should lose 12-13% of their weight through incubation, and it's very easy to figure. I did this the first time with my new bator, just to see if the bator was reading accurately. I did a small hatch of 10, and weighed all eggs before putting in the bator. I then subtracted 12%, and calculated out how much the total weight should be each day...then, I weighed them all every 3-4 days so I'd know where I stood. I saw right away in the first 4 days that my humidity was too high, as the eggs had not lost near enough weight. So, I reduced the humidity, and by day 18, they "caught up." That was actually the best hatch I've had!

 

[YeOleBroodie]

Quote:
Good question but I think that would raise other questions.

1. How long does it take for that moisture to get thru shell to moisten it for the chick to be able pip and zip.

2. Also how long does it take to keep the inner membrane damp enough, so its doesn't shrink wrap.

If those answers can be figured out, then possibly that would answer your question....?

I often wondered about that, as you never see a hen 'dive into water' to raise humidity as fast/high as some have for the last 3 days.
When she starts to hunker down for the last days of hatching....the temps and therefore humidity, due to her sweating, would slowly rise over those days. After all I don't think she is on auto pilot to boost the humidity.
Maybe I am over thinking this...

 

[rizq]

I have heard that eggs should lose weight, but until you mentioned actually weighing the eggs, that had never occured to me. I already have a digital gram scale, so that should be very easy to do. I guess you cannot get more accurate than that since there are so many other variables. I will definitely try that with this set.

Did you weigh individual eggs? Or weigh them as a group?

 

[Wynette]

I weighted them individually because my scale is very small. And my hatch was small, so it didn't take long. Subsequently, I'd pick out a sampling of eggs and weight them (like maybe 4 out of 12) and use them as the scale for the entire hatch. Using the egg weight method is actually deemed the most accurate way to hatch but a few manuals I've read on it, and it did work great for me. But, lots of folks don't want to remove eggs periodically to weigh, and I can definitely understand this as well.

YeOld - I'm in the same boat as you. I definitely overthink things; but, I think that can sometimes be a blessing! I've come up with some pretty good ideas by pondering and pondering...and probably wasted valuable time, too!

 

[rizq]

I am going to give it a try. Makes more sense that saying your humidity should be at whatever set number because other environmental variables must affect things as well. I will weigh the eggs when I have them out to candle anyway (I cannot help myself, I have to see how they are doing every few days anyway, lol).

This makes sense to me. I am going to have to keep a log of everything so I know exactly how things go. Maybe after several hatches I will know what works and will not have to weigh as much, or maybe find out it is never the same ... either way I will learn something, lol. Wish I had logs of my other hatches (ok, maybe only the first two ... before the bator went on the fritz and murdered my eggs).

 

[Wynette]

I think you're right, Becki; I've learned with every hatch! And, with the weight loss method, eventually you'd sort of know by the size of the air cell, I think. It also tells you how your individual bator runs as well, I think!

 

[rizq]

Now I am even MORE excited to get my eggs set tomorrow or Sunday! I really did not think that was possible, lol. I am eager to try something new and hope for awesome results.

Thanks for the tips! You are truly awesome!

 

[Wynette]

Hatching is SO much fun!

I guess we sorta hijacked SurprisePullet's thread....sorry 'bout that!

 

[rizq]

lol, yeah just a little. Sorry SuprisePullet. Hopefully it was at least a helpful hijack, lol

 

[chickie_mama]

walkswithdog,
You have convinced me. I am going to try the dry hatch thing next go around. I have read some of the other dry hatch threads and this actually makes sense. When mama hen is sitting on her eggs, I do not think she consults a hygrometer. Thanks for the info.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this thread. You all have given me a lot to think about.