Yall, I'm FREAKING OUT!!! Please Help!!!

[buildingmyark]

Okay, so this is my second hatch in the Genesis 1588. First hatch went perfectly- 100%. Those were my "practice eggs". Well now I'm incubating some Lavender Orp. eggs. Lockdown started tonight at 9 pm. I did exactly what I did on the first batch and filled all of the trays with water. The temperature has been right on, but the humidity has been anywhere from 80-86. I'm in Mississippi and it's been raining for the past couple of days. Maybe this has something to do with it? Anyway, I tried to soak up some of the water with a sponge and opened the vent. Still around 80. Is this hatch doomed? Is there anything else that I can do? Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Rozzie]

No. It isn't doomed. Chicks are amazing creatures!

Keep in mind that chicks hatch outside in super humid climates in the summer. I am convinced that our attention to humidity is sometimes a bit overboard. I I've seen chickens with babies in tropical rainforests, during pretty humid seasons, so I think your chicks have a decent chance. Chicks also hatch in really dry climates naturally. SO...we probably overemphasize this in our search for 100% perfect hatches (which don't exist in nature, either).

If my humidity were too high, I'd just take a toothpick or something and prop the incubator open slightly. Then, keep an eye on the humidity levels and adjust as needed.

 

[buildingmyark]

Thank you! I did prop the lid up a little and now the humidity has been steady at 75%. Is that acceptable?

 

[chicmom]

With incubating, it's the surface of the water that brings up the humidity. Can you cover part of the water with some waxed paper or something?

 

[shellybean40]

My humidity got that high during my last hatch, and I had a 65% hatch rate. So, I was happy.

 

[buildingmyark]

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that I did put a little sheet of foil down over some of the water. (hope foil is okay.) Thanks so much for your encouragement! As for my other question, do yall think that 75 % humidity will be okay. I checked the weather here and the humidity has been between 89-100% this week-I know, it's awful!!! I feel very sure that this is part of my problem.

 

[Rozzie]

It has to be better than what you were at. An improvement is better than no improvement. Is the temperature holding steady with the lid propped? You also won't want the heating elements running more than they should or your incubator may wear out faster.

Do you have more than one area that holds water in your incubator? If so, remove all of the water from one of them. You can use a syringe without a needle if you need to do so. That's what I use for sucking water out of my incubator. You could also use a microfiber cloth to wick some of it out if needed.

 

[buildingmyark]

Yes, the temp. has been perfectly steady, but I didn't even think that it could be wearing out the bator. Good point. There are multiple water reservoirs. I will try to take some of the water out. Will it be okay to open the bator to do that at Day 20 or would it be better to just leave it alone at this point? Thanks again!

 

[Rozzie]

Well, my incubator recovers temperature and humidity almost immediately. So, in my case if no one had pipped, I'd open and work FAST. However, I don't know what more experienced folks would say about this. With quail, that is way too high for a humidity. I have quail. You'd need to look up the optimum percentages for chickens or have someone who is more experienced with that help you. (I'm pretty new to incubators, though I've had poultry of various types for most of my life.)

 

[buildingmyark]

Okay, here's a little update... So far, I've got 4 that have pipped, including one that is starting to zip!!! Yippy!