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[Cheryl]

Lockdown today, got up early I have 8 eggs due Wednesday (30th) the temp is set at 37.6 which it has been throughout.. the humidity is now at 70% which i'm hoping is ok..i had trouble raising it so i put some wet kitchen towel in to my Brinsea octagon 20 incubator..and Hope its fine at that temp..this is my first hatch so i'm very very nervous, the next three days will feel as if I myself am in labout tee hee..

Does this all sound ok to everyone?...there are 7 polands and 1 baldneck in there... 'oh hurry up I can't wait' !!

[joza2210]

Yes sounds okay

Redwing (Tasha) Will probably tell you more ... She says that she keeps the humidity around 60% but i am sure 70% is fine ...

Good luck with your hatch

 

(Just had my first batch in the incubator and only had 1 hatch out of

[tom123]

Good luck!

 

I think I would maybe lower the humidity to about 55-60% in case they drown in their shells.

[chick wiggle]

Good luck, its so exiting, but as Tom said, i would maybe lower the humidity, i had mine between 50 and 60.

Good luck

[Redwing]

Humidity of 55-60% is best - 70 is a too high

 

I have an Octagon 20 and after trial and error I reduce the temp to 37.1 for hatching

 

55% and 37.1 have given me the best results in that incubator

[Cheryl]

Well its just as well really because its gone down to 64 now!.. and I was worried about that so now im not phew... is 64 ok?..Please let me know ..

The Brinsea leaflet says 65% or more ... to be honest everywhere I look it says something else. everyone does it differently..Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!

[Redwing]

A chick will pip even if the humidity is low - some people dont even raise the humidity at all till a chick pips

 

The risk with having it too high too soon is that the air space in the egg will fill with moisture and the chicks may drown so its better to err on the side of caution

 

I always raise to about 55% then if the eggs go late in to day 21 with no action I may push it higher

 

Open the vent on the front of the inccy a bit more to get that humidity down for now at least, you can always close the vent some more allowing the humidity to rise late on, the vent should never go below 2/3 closed though as the eggs need air

[Cheryl]

Thank you so so much, im going to do that now!.. good advice oh this is not good for my delicate nerves the anticipation is too much.. Thanks everyone x

[Cheryl]

Sorry I just want to ask.. if the humidity is too low at the time after pipping how do you raise it without opening the incubator?...

[Redwing]

You use the vent to control it

[Cheryl]

I'm Still worrying about the humidity it reads at 52% and the vent is almost closed.. urgh HELP PLEASE.. they are due to hatch on Wednesday..

[Cheryl]

I'm loosing the battle with my humidity control..the vent is almost closed its day 19 (well almost day 20) and the humidity is stuck on 52%.. the vent is almost shut .. what do I do? if i try to make the humidity rise I would have to close the vent totally and its almost closed now.. i'm sure it shouldnt be.. I do need help..I will be waiting up for advice..oh dear!

[Lewis]

That should be fine - it might be the heat and room humidity thats affecting it, but around 55% is alright

[Cheryl]

Oh thank you so much.. I cannot believe the difference in advice over humidity.. I have looked for info on the internet and the humidity during lockdown varies fron 50-90% and who is right?..and it seems that its all a bit hit and miss..but thank you now I can sleep tonight without dreaming about getting this all wrong..

[Cheryl]

I have been catastrophising over the humidity since Sunday.. it was too low yesterday 52-53% and there is no sign of pipping and its day 20... so I just called Brinsea and asked their advice since they recommend that the humidity is at 65+ at this stage... I did already have a folded bit of kitchen towel in there which was dried out, so they said I should whip open the incubator for seconds and re-wet it.. So i did

They said it would be perfectly fine to do so.. as it was momentary and the incubator recovers very quickly (as I could see on the digital display it was up to 63% in about half a minute.. any thoughts on this I hope the advice was good..

[Redwing]

I'd have left it at 52/53% - that was fine as Lewis advised you last night

 

Too much humidity not to mention humidity fluctuations (which is now where you find yourself) is not good for the eggs

 

I have had chicks hatch at 25% humidity (where I have forgotten to remove them to the hatcher) and I have had chicks drown due to high humidity so I never take humidity too high now and never over 60

 

Whats also important is that the humidity stays stable throughout days 18-21

 

Chicks are pretty tough cookies though so hopefully all will be ok

[Cheryl]

Well fingers crossed with this one...

Unfortunately for us newbies, everyone seems to have different settings for their hatching successes, I suppose I will have to come to my own conclusions, bit like everything in life..

I think they are prob more hardy than we think , I mean i'm sure that mother hen doesn't wash her hands when she incubates and that the temp and humidity is bound to fluctuate a bit with her being outside and moving about..

I will try to stay calm today and promise to keep you all posted if anything pippes..

Everyone on here has been really helpful, as always.. Thanks everyone..