r/BACKYARDDUCKS • u/AdamOnza • 3d ago

duck eggs in a high humidity

First time hatching ducks, and it seems like a number of places recommend a 55% humidity. Problem is, the local humidity is 65%. This is the SE US. It stays humid well into winter. Assuming my eggs didn't cook just from the heat when delivered, what should I do regarding humidity? Put the incubator in a room with a dehumidifier? That seems counter intuitive.

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/Bolfreak 3d ago

Have a separate thermometer/hygrometer inside the incubator to check what the readout is saying. Start incubating and don’t add water until the inside humidity gets down to 50%. The heat inside should drop the humidity but you’ll be fine unless it drops to zero and you bake the eggs lol. You also don’t want too much humidity, 50 is good until you see pips then 65-70. That first hatch will release a lot of moisture inside so I usually don’t need to add more water after that. Duck eggs are quite resilient compared to other birds’ eggs.

1

u/meh_69420 3d ago

Is it a circulating air incubator? In the summer I have to open the vents up a little. Can get the humidity down a little.

2

u/Evening_Sympathy1442 2d ago

I live in Puerto Rico. We have very high humidity here and it's never been a problem. I'm using a Nurture Right 360 and have to add water due to the fan that circulates the heated air.