The tiny serama; a Hatching adventure

[fluffycrow]

Oh goodie! Well, I'm sure these eggies hear us anyway.

Very true! Extra early encouragement is definitely not a bad thing!

 

[TwoCrows]

@Canadian Wind is without power up there, it's been a couple of days without power, cold and snowy too, incubator eggies are cold. Send some warm vibes his way!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Apologies for not making it clear, the set date is today. The eggs are going in the incubator in a few hours

Exciting!!

@Canadian Wind is without power up there, it's been a couple of days without power, cold and snowy too, eggies are cold. Send some warm vibes his way!

Oof, that's awful... Hoping for power soon

 

[fluffycrow]

@Canadian Wind is without power up there, it's been a couple of days without power, cold and snowy too, incubator eggies are cold. Send some warm vibes his way!

Oh no! Hope they get power soon, having no power in that kind of cold is NASTY! Stay warm Wind!


Thank you for updating us, TwoCrows!

 

[fluffycrow]

Exciting!!

It really is! Circling back to that humidity thing, what humidity do you guys and gals keep your eggs at? My incubator says optimal humidity is 50-60% for the first 18 days, and 65-75% for lockdown. I'm thinking that it's way too high, and what caused my low hatch rate. Problem is, this incubator's only problem so far, is not being able to keep the humidity stable for long

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I'm probably the wrong person to ask about humidity. I don't even use a hygrometer in my incubators so I don't have any numbers to give you I let the eggs tell me if my humidity is good. Air cells too small at candling days, then I'll put less water in and open the vents more. Too big, I'll add water and close vents. I do have the advantage in that my Brinseas are super stable, both in temp and humidity, so I can afford to be a lot less vigilant with them.

That said, I'd agree that 50-60% sounds too high for the first 18 days to me. I'm not honestly sure what would be appropriate, however.

 

[fluffycrow]

I'm probably the wrong person to ask about humidity. I don't even use a hygrometer in my incubators so I don't have any numbers to give you I let the eggs tell me if my humidity is good. Air cells too small at candling days, then I'll put less water in and open the vents more. Too big, I'll add water and close vents. I do have the advantage in that my Brinseas are super stable, both in temp and humidity, so I can afford to be a lot less vigilant with them.

That said, I'd agree that 50-60% sounds too high for the first 18 days to me. I'm not honestly sure what would be appropriate, however.

I've already saved that wonderful diagram od proper aircell growth you've shared here, it has been very helpful. I'd just feel more safe if I had a better gauge of the humidity before day 7, because I really don't want to lose any chicks by havingg the humidity too high(although your hatch rates are so good, so it's probably just my paranoia). The vents on my incubator are always open, and can't be closed, (so if I need to close them, it'll have to be Jerry-Rigged) which might be why it doesn't keep humidity stable for long. It certainly doesn't last more than 24 hours

 

[WoDia]

When incubating Serama, every incubator is a little different. My optimal temperature, humidity, and fluctuations due to ambient room temperature, etc, will be different compared to yours… but not by that much. You’re going to be fine. Do your best to maintain between 99.5-100 temperature and approximately 45% humidity until lockdown. Then, try to keep it around 65%. Don’t panic if it rises a little (up to 70% humidity at lockdown). You know your Electric Lady better than anyone else does. The key is to monitor your numbers and adjust as soon as you see them out of the safe zone. Also, you’ll be checking the air cells regularly, and will be able to adjust quickly if needed.

 

[fluffycrow]

Thank you for the reassurance ! I'll try to do 45%, hoping it doesn't rise over 50% at any given time, but doesn't drop much. How often do you think I should check air cells? In the beginning I said I'd do day 7, day 14, and day 16/17 candling, but now I'm thinking of doing one at day 5 as well

 

[WoDia]

I think that’s a good plan. Extra candling won’t hurt the embryos. And, just one more thing… I’ve had lots of Serama chicks hatch at 70%+ humidity. It spikes as soon as they start hatching, so all you can really do is keep eyes on them. Fluffy, those tiny eggs can handle short periods of fluctuations in temperature and humidity without being in danger.