any tips on incuabtion please

[NSB]

My new octagon 20 advance is on and stable at 37.5. The eggs arrive tomorrow and are going in on saturday/sunday.

Im going to keep the temperature the same throughout the incubation time.

Please can you advise me on the correct humidity for the various stages of incubation please.

early stage.....

mid stage.......

end stage ........

As my last attempt went wrong and the incubator packed up on day 6. I am starting from scratch again and would appreciate advice.

Nicola

[walldanzig]

i'm not sure about the humidity as I made my own incubator but I would let the eggs stand for 24 hours at room temp so they can settle after their journey leave the incubator on for a couple of days before so its nice and warm.

[Suechooks]

According to Katie Thear ("Incubation - a guide to hatching and rearing") it should be 50% in the incubator and 75% in the hatcher. So you increase the humidity for the last 2 days i think. I'm sure someone with loads of incubator experience will be along any minute to help.

[CoraxAurata]

If your incubator is in a slightly damp room I would barely use any water (I use an octagon in my back room - its kind of a utility room I guess, in the winter i only put a dribble of water in about twice a week and then more at day 18, in summer i put a dribble of water in slightly more often. I hatch dark shelled marans which are particularly sensitive to excessive moisture due to the smaller pores in the shell and have had pretty good hatches from this technique- but I don't have a humidity gauge......

The instructions for using an incubator without a humidy guide are seemingly written for an American market and they largely have a lower ambient humidity.. so I gather from folks in the know anyway....

hope this helps

D

[CoraxAurata]

P.S I also have my temp at 37.8 - my poultry mentor insists it should be 38 but I'm a little shy of that....

[lynda66]

i have a humidity gauge and don't use it ... basically as we live in a damp country there is enough humidity to not bother ... but cos it makes me feel better ... i put in a small pot of water (about egg cup sized) every 5-7 days ... then stop turning the eggs at day 18 and put a big sponge in in a bowl of water to increase the humidity to hatching level, it's only really important then so the membrane doesn't dry and the chicks stick to the shell or die.

[CoraxAurata]

i have a humidity gauge and don't use it ... basically as we live in a damp country there is enough humidity to not bother ... but cos it makes me feel better ... i put in a small pot of water (about egg cup sized) every 5-7 days ... then stop turning the eggs at day 18 and put a big sponge in in a bowl of water to increase the humidity to hatching level, it's only really important then so the membrane doesn't dry and the chicks stick to the shell or die.

Yep - maybe I should have said quite a lot more on day 18.......

[MaureenHall]

Well as my incubator is full of eggs with no room for a big sponge, I'm going to do what my lottie neighbours have done and that's to leave it till day 18, then mist the eggs occasionally till pipping. There'll be a bowl of water outside the incubator near the ventilation holes. It worked for them, and as Lynda said, we live in a country of fairly high humidity anyway

[walldanzig]

I just put a small cup of water one of those ones you get for taking tablets in the hospital and that seems to do the trick

[Hilary B]

If warming the incubator before adding eggs, do NOT add water before the eggs as this is quite likely to cause condensation on the shells, which may or may not be harmful, but I wouldn't risk it.

[LostthePlot]

Because of the humidity in the air in this country, I don't use any water for the first 19 days and then put a little pot in for the last 3 days. I think humidity levels are given for people who live in dry areas of the world where the relative air moisture is very dry. I use a hygrometer outside the inci and when it rains here it goes up to 80% on some occasions and on regular days it always hovers around 55%. HTH's