Tips for humidity during lockdown?

[quixieotic]

Hi everyone! This is my first post on this forum! I'm hatching a couple of Swedish Blues, and it's currently day 22! I just candled them and they are all moving pretty well, have strong veins and large air cells, and are pressed up against the air cells! One or two of the ducks even look like they could be practising pipping -- not too sure though, it's really hard to make out if that was the beak, the wing, the leg...etc...

Either way, I am working with a forced air incubator with the temperature constantly around 99.5-100 and humidity around 50-55%. I have also done daily cooling (10-15 min) and misting (with warm water) starting from day 10. Stuff has been going pretty smoothly, and for humidity, I have been using two medicine cups and rotating them with warm and cool water (as the one with warm water beings to evaporate more, the cool water one eventually warms up and replaces it, keeping my humidity constant), as I prefer this method much more over the water wells in my incubator.

However, I'm a little nervous for lockdown -- this will be my first lockdown, and I'm planning on using a dishcloth sponge, as I read that they usually retain and release moisture at a slower, more stable pace. How do you guys usually do lockdown and how do you make the humidity last around 70-80% for 3 straight days? I'm so worried about the humidity going down overnight or something and shrink wrapping them.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi, and welcome to BYC!

I thought 80% sounded high, but it's not by much. I found an article written a couple of years ago by a member who hatches and raises that breed.

I quote: "The humidity should be around 55% during incubation, but 65%- 75% during lockdown."

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-swedish-blue.78719/

What brand incubator do you have? You mention you're not using the water wells in it. I would assume you're going to have to try to use those.

 

[quixieotic]

Hi, and welcome to BYC!

I thought 80% sounded high, but it's not by much. I found an article written a couple of years ago by a member who hatches and raises that breed.

I quote: "The humidity should be around 55% during incubation, but 65%- 75% during lockdown."

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-swedish-blue.78719/

What brand incubator do you have? You mention you're not using the water wells in it. I would assume you're going to have to try to use those.

Hi! Thank you so much for your welcome and reply!

Yeah, I think I'm going to try to keep it around 75% max! Thanks for the Swedish-blue specific info!

I honestly might try the water wells in it. I'm not too sure about the brand; it's my friend's incubator that I'm borrowing (but I will check). However, when she hatched her eggs, she said she would fill up the water wells during lockdown. I think the only real reason why I'm a little adverse to using them is that I didn't use them for all of incubation, so I'm not so used to them (I'd have a hard time adjusting humidity if it suddenly drops low during lockdown) and that I think they lose water a little quicker than a sponge.