Incubator humidity by GQF

[Ontario Chick]

If you have been around for a while, you may remember that first we all followed the GQF instructions and kept drowning the chicks,
then the "Dry Incubation" story was published and some of us started to use that and were happy with the results, and with the humidity in the Valley about to rise and eggs in the bator, to refresh my memory I revisited the GQF website.
Boy thy have come a long way baby....

http://incubatorwarehouse.com/getting-s ... incubating

Here is an excerpt that made me look twice, the original instructions called for 55%-65%

Humidity Control

Humidity is controlled in order to prevent unnecessary loss of egg moisture. The ideal humidity level for hatching eggs is still being debated among experts, but many agree that it should not fall below 25% or above 60% between setting and three days prior to hatching. During the last three days (the "lock-down" period), the humidity level should be increased to between 70-80%. Keeping an adequate humidity range inside your incubator is quite simple. The Little Giant and Hova-Bator incubators come with simple instructions on how to use the water channels in the floor of the incubator. Follow the instructions that come with the incubators. Please note that the humidity in your area will have an impact on how much water you'll need in the incubator to keep it within the correct humidity range. Check the water level periodically to ensure they don't dry out.

[kenya]

Wow I never follow any of that,if I raised the humidity to that I would drown all the chicks. I start with the humidity around 35-45 and keep that all hatch, no changing the humidity at the end. Of course when they start to hatch humidity naturally goes up.

[Ontario Chick]

You are an experienced poultry person, my heart goes out to anybody new to the hobby, who hasn't found PTO yet and goes by the GQF instructions.
One would think that by now the experts would have finished debating and actually came up with some realistic guidelines.

[Seastar]

Thanks for the info. I have two older bators and no instructions. When ready to go, I will inquire here for info and help.

[windwalkingwolf]

Miller instructions basically say to fill all water channels and keep them that way throughout, so GQF is several bars up from Miller! If my humidity goes over 55, I worry because I know I'm going to get wet chicks if it stays there. It's not necessary to raise humidity for hatch at ALL, if it's been steady throughout. I've never had a chick shrink-wrap in an incubator of any sort...get glued in because of goop, yes, but shrink-wrap, no. They're more likely to shrink wrap under a hen after being steam rollered open. Maybe in Arizona, you'd need to keep humidity up and even raise it at the end, as the ambient dryness sucks moisture away...but here where we're practically breathing water 10 months of the year? Maybe they should publish instructions with regional differences LOL

[Killerbunny]

This thread is so funny because when I was new to PSO I never dared write that I dry hatch LOL! Thought I was in the minority so kept quiet.

[windwalkingwolf]

Once when I told someone I hatched chicks,turkeys, geese and ducks in a cake pan covered with a T-shirt, I was asked how I kept humidity up. I got an "Ohmigod" when I told them I didn't, except for a kettle on the wood stove (sometimes that's even too much) and that the one time I was misting goose eggs turned out to be a mistake. She then proceeded to tell me all the reasons why eggs need loads of moisture,and I told her the stories of chicks dead at hatch eggs with liquid goo in them, or yolk sac unabsorbed, or slipped tendons or curled feet. I saw the light go on but then got "but this is how it's always done, it's what incubator manufacturers say to do, it's how the old timers do it blah blah blah"
I think where you live, time of year and even what type of house you live in make a huge difference, and so can what you use to gauge temperature and humidity.

[Killerbunny]

Interestingly at the Game Conservancy there was no "rule" for humidity control. Incubators were huge but humidity was gauged on weight loss of trays of eggs. If the weight loss is correct and air sacs look correct on you go!

[windwalkingwolf]

That would work excellently for eggs all of a fairly consistent weight before incubation! I have tinies, bantams, standards and giants, and often a batch of eggs is a mix of all, and even among say, Giants of the same approximate body weight, their egg sizes can vary widely from hen to hen. 106 lays a small medium egg, while "V" lays a large bordering on Jumbo. I have a tiny that lays an inch long egg, and a tiny that lays a large medium. I seriously don't know how THAT hen even stores them on the way down the oviduct. I swear the egg is almost bigger than her, but I digress again.
For me personally, it has helped somewhat to be an obsessive candler, even though some eggs like 106's (most of my Giants are numbered but not named) are dark speckled and hard to see through--the line of the air cell should be just above halfway down the egg, with bumps (chick's side on the 'full side of the egg and beak shadow on the 'empty' side of the egg) at or near hatch day. The chick SHOULD be stuffed in the pointy end of the egg. You should candle the egg and think, "holy crap, how does a full term chick fit in there?" They get out faster and healthier. At least in my experience. I'm starting to see air cells not shrinking enough, got two wet weak chicks, it's time to quit for the summer. I cannot even understand the frustration of Ontario Chick, where the Wyandottes are most fertile just as the ambient humidity is starting to ramp to dangerous-to-eggs levels. Add water to the incubator??? Heck no. Turn on a dehumidifier or household heat, or move to Arizona, maybe LOL. Or wait. Serious poultry breeding is always a waiting game it seems, anyway. Nobody wants chicks in their house in the cold of winter, and the hens generally aren't laying that well in winter anyway, but if you're racing humidity, the deep dry cold of a normal January is really the only time you can fairly reliably follow manufacturer's instructions on incubators and expect anything to hatch healthy. But there is no "normal" weather, so get a good humidity meter or two, and experiment is all we can do!

[Killerbunny]

We were dealing with large numbers of eggs all one species like all pheasant, partridge etc so that is why it worked. No way you could candle them all.