I recently purchased an r-com suro incubator, all excited I put in 9 of my own pure breed eggs, and basically I was very disappointed-none survived. :o( I got 3 to the pipping stage, two struggled, even with a little bit of help, 1 hatched but being a lone chick didn't stand much chance. On checking my eggs 8 out of 9 were fertile and all looked fully developed ready to hatch, but for some reason didn't hatch or struggled, even more disappointing.
I was wondering if I had maybe run the humidity too low? I set if at 43% until day 18 and then increased it by 1%/day until day 21 when I went to 60%. Had the low humidity damage already been done by then?
The sponge inside also always looks dry, should it be damp?
What settings do other people use that work?? I could really do with some advice!
I put in some more eggs on friday night setting the humidity at 45%, and would appreciate any help for the critical last few days! Thank you!
Farming Friends Forum » Incubating and Hatching Eggs
Incubator humidity help
(11 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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sorry i can't offer advice to you, but sure some of the members who have done incubation will help, to be totaly honest im replying in the hope that bringing your post back to the top of the page someone with experience will see it and help you
good luck this time it must be very upsetting getting so far then loseing allmo xPosted 1 year ago # -
Sorry missed your post fluffy ,I don't use incys but learning all on here yes humidty is a very important factor .Am sure Sara or other members who do will help soon .So sorry to hear of the deaths and sad for you.Fingers crossed for the new babies .Good luck Mama
Goose GirlPosted 1 year ago # -
I have a home-made cooler style incubator, I have water 1/8 inch deep on the bottom bowls on the rack and my hydrometer says the RH is only 48% .... It is so moist & wet in there, yet it still says 45%-48% ....I live in Florida and in my house with the AC on its 55%+ I am guessing the hydrometer is bad? It just doesn't seem right. Are my Duck eggs OK if the RH is way too high?
HELP!!!!Posted 1 year ago # -
This has been dealt with in depth before and lots of answers can be found here: http://farmingfriends.com/reasons-why-fully-formed-chicks-may-not-hatch-out/.
Duck eggs need different temperatures and humidity to chicken eggs.Sarah LPosted 1 year ago # -
Thanks for the concern from everyone, I have used the link to previous posts but am afraid can't find anything about humidity. Has anyone any advice or suggest the settings that they use? Thank you for your help!
Posted 1 year ago # -
found this on Saras web page not sure if its what you are looking for
http://farmingfriends.com/humidity-levels-for-egg-incubation/mo xPosted 1 year ago # -
Hi there
We have used an incubator a few times and yes, the humidity and water level do make a difference. Ours only needed water once, with a small top up when hatching and had the humidity set at a continuous level throughout for our hen eggs.
I will dig out the instructions and get back to you - so sorry that you have gone through this, and hope Sara can give you advise for future hatchings
Karen xPosted 1 year ago # -
Hi fluffy,
what sort of eggs are they? are they duck or hen eggs?Hope you get the humidity levels sorted. I have always found this very difficult.
Some people do dry incubation where they don't have much water in until the last three days. Here is a discussion about it http://farmingfriends.com/should-you-add-water-to-incubator-when-incubating-poultry-eggs/
Kind regards
Sara @ farmingfriendsPosted 1 year ago # -
Thank you for the comments Karen and Sara. They are chicken eggs. I have seen comments from people saying they run their incubators totally dry which seems to go against what many other people say about running constant about 45% and then increasing for the last couple of days- maybe both ways can work! This time I am currently running at 45% and was going to increase it to 65% for the last 2 days. I guess if that doesnt work :o( I could just run it dry completely next time. I just want to give the chicks the best chance of making it into the world! Maybe there is no right answer and is all just personal preference?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi Fluffy,
I haven't incubated hen eggs, but have quail, ducks and guinea fowl. I have often put water in the tray to begin with and then topped up for the last three days.
I think recording the humidity temps and temp in the incubator and outside the incubator and when you add water etc is good as this gives you a record of what you have done so you can tweak it next time if need be.
I have always found the humidity levels difficult.
Good luck with your hatch.
kind regards
Sara @ farmingfriendsPosted 1 year ago #
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