Low humidity - ideas to bring it up?

[Mamashash]

I am trying out a home made still air incubator and my humidity was stuck at 34. I added another low dish of water and now I am stuck at 39. There is noroom for another dish - unless it goes under the eggs. Ideas?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

To raise your humidity you will need to create more surface of water. Surface area and not depth of water will create it. If you can I would add more under the eggs. Do you have your eggs on a rack or something similar? Or are your eggs right at the bottom of the incubator? In a turner? Sponges are also good for creating more humidity.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

To raise your humidity you will need to create more surface of water. Surface area and not depth of water will create it. If you can I would add more under the eggs. Do you have your eggs on a rack or something similar? Or are your eggs right at the bottom of the incubator? In a turner? Sponges are also good for creating more humidity.

This and sponges. I use sponges in my bator at lockdown, but my humidity is a lot higher than you have before I even add the sponges, so not sure how much it will bring it up, but it should help.

 

[kuchchicks]

x2. I have used sponges during the first 17 days to raise my humidity. Keep an eye on your temp. It can start to raise up as the sponges dry out. When you add the sponges you can try standing them up on their ends and leaning at a slight angle against the side of the incubator. Because you are trying to increase the surface are don't want them right on top of each other. Also if they are standing up on end it may provide you with more room to add more sponges if needed.

What are you hatching? What humidity level are you shooting for? 39% during days 1-17 (if you are doing chickens) is a good level. I keep mine between 30%-35% and then raise up to 75% during lockdown. You many be okay until the actual hatch right where you are. Hope this helps. I know this can be frustrating.

 

[Mamashash]

Thanks so much! I do have my eggs on a rack so I can get water underneath them. I did however get the humidity up to 48 with one sponge so I stopped there. I was so happy, and then I came home and found that the temp had spiked to 105!!! I have gone through many emotions, but I have also read many stories about chicks still hatching so I will wait a bit longer and then see what happens when I candle.

 

[kuchchicks]

What day are you on? Do you know how long the temp was up that high? I had my temp spike to 104 for an unknown length of time a few months back on my old bator. I was so upset. I thought for sure that they were gone. But like you said I waited to candle them. I was early on... but when I candled them I still ended up ok. I only had a 60% hatch rate that time. But I had a lot of issues with the bator. The temp never stayed consistent. I had to babysit it constantly. I was constantly worried and was not able to enjoy the process at all. That was when I decided to get a new bator. It self regulates and I have to do very little. I am only having to monitor and add water every few days.

Have you hatched in an incubator before? There are several schools of thought and some people do like to incubate at a higher humidity like where you currently have yours set. I myself never had good luck with it up that high. Keep notes on this hatch. I run my closer to 30%-35% during days 1-17 and then bump up to 75% for lock down. Of course the absolute BEST way to know if your humidity is working for you is by watching your air cells. Look at them on days 7 and 14. If they look too small/too large you can adjust your humidity down/up to get them where you need to. If you have any that don't hatch make sure that you eggtopsy them to try to determine what went wrong. Whatever you find make sure that you are only adjusting one thing at a time so that you know for sure the effects.

Since you live in Texas I am assuming it is much drier there? Humidity here in Ohio can be brutal. You may have to play with that to find what works for you. Let me know how things look when you candle!

 

[Mamashash]

Wow, thanks!
I am only on day 3. I was gone from 10 in the morning til 5 in the afternoon, so I have no idea how long the temp was that high. Right now my humidity is at 40% and my temp is 102.
I am not great at candling, so I thought I would wait a few more days so I could be sure. what do you think??
Any suggestions are more than welcome and I am prepared for the worst, but these were my pretty blue eggs from my sweetest hens...

Oh, and actually, our humidity here in Texas is way on up there! Ugh!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Wow, thanks!
I am only on day 3. I was gone from 10 in the morning til 5 in the afternoon, so I have no idea how long the temp was that high. Right now my humidity is at 40% and my temp is 102.
I am not great at candling, so I thought I would wait a few more days so I could be sure. what do you think??
Any suggestions are more than welcome and I am prepared for the worst, but these were my pretty blue eggs from my sweetest hens...

Oh, and actually, our humidity here in Texas is way on up there! Ugh!

Blue eggs are a bit harder to candle for development it might be closer to 7 days before you can tell with any confidence. If you are only on day three I totally agree with kuchchicks on humidity. Low incubation methods work so much better for a lot of people (especially in styro bators.) Here's a link you can read more about how we use the low incubation method: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

 

[kuchchicks]

Candling you get better over time. Shine your light from the fat part down. That is where you want to see your air cell and since you are shining your light through the air cell you should see a little better. Like Amy said blue eggs are harder to see into. I recently had the same problem with some quail eggs (they are so small plus the dark brown spots made them impossible to see other than the size of the air cell and that there was a mass - the chick). When I am incubating eggs that I cannot see through well - blue, green, dark brown, etc I am less likely to toss eggs. I try my best to look at the air cell. I try to see blood vessels and hope to see a chick but will tend to hold on to them if I am not positive that they have quit. I had several French Maran eggs that I thought were not developing but ended up with a decent hatch. So i guess what I am saying is it's better to hold on to a dud than toss a possible chick.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Candling you get better over time. Shine your light from the fat part down. That is where you want to see your air cell and since you are shining your light through the air cell you should see a little better. Like Amy said blue eggs are harder to see into. I recently had the same problem with some quail eggs (they are so small plus the dark brown spots made them impossible to see other than the size of the air cell and that there was a mass - the chick). When I am incubating eggs that I cannot see through well - blue, green, dark brown, etc I am less likely to toss eggs. I try my best to look at the air cell. I try to see blood vessels and hope to see a chick but will tend to hold on to them if I am not positive that they have quit. I had several French Maran eggs that I thought were not developing but ended up with a decent hatch. So i guess what I am saying is it's better to hold on to a dud than toss a possible chick.

I never toss my greens unless they smell. The first week I can see pretty good in them with the light I have much after that it gets real hard. I can usually make out a vein or two right at the bottom of the air cell, but even if I can't they stay in until the end. I only take out clears and unquestionables.