Weighing, humidity and candling questions

[williamsl77]

Hi all,

So I weighed my eggs today Day #13 because the aircells looked quite a bit bigger. They are at about 11-12% weight loss, which is a tiny bit high, right? I've been keeping the humidity between 40 and 50%, although every couple of nights it drops to 15-20% overnight (when the water dries up?). I add more water, the humidity bounces back and we keep going. So my question is, should I keep the humidity a little bit higher to slow weight loss? How high should I keep it at this point?

Next question: when I candled today, I just see mostly dark eggs, which I assume is all chick. I don't really see movement. Is that normal? There have been no significant changes or problems c temps or humidity other than what I mentioned. Are you supposed to see movement? I haven't candled in several days and there has been definite growth. They wouldn't be shrinked wrapped yet at this point, would they? That is mostly a risk after external pip, right?

Alright... my first hatching.... crossing my fingers still!!

Thanks in advance for input!!

 

[williamsl77]

Sorry to be annoying with yet another humidity/weighing/candling question... hope someone will answer, though....

 

[cmom]

You will probably get many different suggestions. This is what works for me. I keep my humidity around 35% during incubation (dry hatch). I have had much better hatches, 95% to 100%. I would check the water before you retire for the night so the humidity doesn't yo yo so much. I don't worry about the air cells as many people do. When you candle you may not see any movement. The chick may be resting. The chicks would only be shrink wrapped after they have pipped their shells and the humidity drops significantly. Most people won't touch the eggs or open the incubator once they set the eggs for hatching (lockdown). I keep my humidity at around 75% during lockdown. I have rarely had a chick stuck from being shrink wrapped.

 

[williamsl77]

Thanks for your input, cmom. I was pretty sure I had a good understanding of the process, but wanted to hear others' opinions as my understanding is purely theoretical at this point and no experience!!

 

[williamsl77]

Should I keep humidity a little higher? How high is too high?