2 part question

[Arnul Torres]

if the lid on the incubator isnt closed right, how long till the eggs go bad?

and how important is it for all screws to be screwed on? Will a missing screw compromise the whole incubator or anything? The incubator I bought had an insanely tight screw and I had to grind off the screw to be able to open and clean the incubator so where one of the screws was theres now that tiny hole.

 

[cavemanrich]

The tiny hole,,, is of no significance.
When you say the lid is not closing right,,,,, Is there a gap large enough for heat and humidity to significantly escape????
What does your temperature readings display??
Consider that a broody hen sitting on eggs, does not have a tight seal over them.
Post some pictures of your incubator,, so that we can have a better idea what is happening.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[Arnul Torres]

The tiny hole,,, is of no significance.
When you say the lid is not closing right,,,,, Is there a gap large enough for heat and humidity to significantly escape????
What does your temperature readings display??
Consider that a broody hen sitting on eggs, does not have a tight seal over them.
Post some pictures of your incubator,, so that we can have a better idea what is happening.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

Thank you for the reply. The top lid wasnt closed right. My mother that will sometimes open it to candle the eggs doesnt close it right. I usually check the incubator at night to find out she didnt close the top correctly letting the humidity and temps lower.

I have the settings at 54% humidity and temp is 99% but for some reason the humidity rose to 64% 2 days ago. When my mother doesnt close it right I'll see the humidity lowering to about 34%. And I'm not sure for how long it stays that way but I'll check the incubator at 8 pm every day. For instance if the humidity wear to stay at 30% for 4 5 hours would that affect the eggs much? Shes done it twice already. I told her not to touch the incubator anymore but she can be a very stubborn woman. She just wants to candle the eggs like every 5 days and I tell her thats not a good idea.

 

[cavemanrich]

I can see that your mom is just VERY EXCITED,,,, about the chicks hatching. ,,, Don't take that away from her..
The slight drop in humidity is just fine. Many peeps do a dry hatching. It works for them as well. Remember that the chickens sitting on eggs are subject to ambient air humidity.
Day 18 is lockdown. Caveman is not a plagiarist. I copy and pasted the blue paragraph from online info. Just easy way,, less typing.

We call these final 3 days “lockdown” because you will not open the incubator until after all chicks have hatched and dried off. On day 18 of the incubation period, you should stop turning the eggs by hand or turn off and remove eggs from the automatic turner.

In these final days the humidity should be higher, to prevent shrink-wrap, and aid in chicks hatching.
Just wanted to add a little info here. Not all chicks hatch at exactly same time. Many peeps will remove dry-fluffed chicks while there are still unhatched eggs in incubator. Place those in a warm brooder.
Of course, have your brooder setup ready when hatching starts.