# Humidity problem?



## Denny (Dec 16, 2016)

Hello people I wonder if someone could offer me some advice. I have a few eggs in an incubator running at 99.5 Fahrenheit and 74 % humidity as per advice but seem to be having a problem with my eggs. They don't seem to be making as much progress as they should be when pipping. I ended up assisting two eggs after they had broken through the inner membrane but failed to make progress after that. They both had dark intestines suggesting dehydration. 

I've been checking my third egg and the air cell seems to have drawn down on both sides. I've attached a picture. Does this look like a humidity problem to you guys? There are internal cracks but to external pip marks as of yet. It has been like this since yesterday. The cracks are on the second picture of centre to the right, just before the shadow of the chick.

I think it was laid on the 13th and sat on straight away so today is day 19.

Any suggestions? The chick is still moving inside the egg but I'm worried that things are definitely not going to plan with this batch


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## ninfatiel (Jul 22, 2016)

I dont have any advice with incubator since I never have tried incubate and then raise the chicks myself. But dark intestines are not a sure sign of dehydration. I had few assisted hatches before-where desperate parents opened the eggs before the yolk was absorbed and despite the fact that this chick wasnt ready to born yet-the intestines were black already. We live right on the Pacific coast here and the humidity levels are high year-round..
Sincerely wishing you luck with your hatch !


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I get the impression that dark intestines at hatching are pretty standard. There might be some situations where it doesn't happen, but in general it doesn't seem to be a problem. 

I don't have any personal knowledge about using an incubator, but here's a detailed article about humidity control from an incubator company: 
https://www.brinsea.com/Articles/Advice/Humidity.aspx

And also this:
http://www.brinsea.com/Brochures/BrinseaHandbook.pdf


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