One of the biggest problems with higher humidity is not enough of the egg evaporates and your chick will be too large to maneuver correctly and won't be able to pip. My humidity is never above 35 for the first 18 days.
Taken from my post on another thread you might find helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=388213
>>I have 6 LGs 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.<<<<
This seems to work well for most people- good luck!
Taken from my post on another thread you might find helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=388213
>>I have 6 LGs 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.<<<<
This seems to work well for most people- good luck!
