Humidity Question

[WinterChicks]

Hello BYCers

I have a home made still air incubator:
In a 5 gallon plastic tote:
A 43watt bulb
and a thermomenter humidity thing in it,
A bowl of water
A towel
A observation window

Vvery simple

What is my humidity supposed to be?
It is my test run and it is hovering at %60-%61
What about this opening the incoubator for water thing?

 

[WinterChicks]

UPDATE:
Since I posted humidity has dropped down to %53 and tep has rose from 77 (i think) to 82

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Still air incubators are recommended to be ran at 101-102 degrees and the humidity for the first 17 days, if you are doing a standard incubation and not dry should be generally 40-55% then at LEAST 65% for lockdown and hatch. I personally shoot for 75%

 

[WinterChicks]

Still air incubators are recommended to be ran at 101-102 degrees and the humidity for the first 17 days, if you are doing a standard incubation and not dry should be generally 40-55% then at LEAST 65% for lockdown and hatch. I personally shoot for 75%

Whats a standard and dry incubation?

I have a towel that I am setting m eggs on and a 43watt regualar light and a dish of water.

It has dropped ro %49 since last post... we shall see how the night fares.

(This is a test run BTW)

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Whats a standard and dry incubation?

I have a towel that I am setting m eggs on and a 43watt regualar light and a dish of water.

It has dropped ro %49 since last post... we shall see how the night fares.

(This is a test run BTW)

Normal (standard incubation) is the method of using water in the bator to keep the humidity (generally, around 40-55%) then there's the dry method where you don't add water to the bator the first 17 days as long as you can maintain (generally) 25%-50%. Either way the best way to know what the eggs need humidity wise is to monitor the egg cells for growth rate or the weight of the eggs for weight loss.

 

[WinterChicks]

Normal (standard incubation) is the method of using water in the bator to keep the humidity (generally, around 40-55%) then there's the dry method where you don't add water to the bator the first 17 days as long as you can maintain (generally) 25%-50%. Either way the best way to know what the eggs need humidity wise is to monitor the egg cells for growth rate or the weight of the eggs for weight loss.

Okay! Well I am adding a dish of water so I am doing Normal

Now, how does dry method work? Better or worse?

 

[WinterChicks]

So it is okay if the humididty fluctuates between the % it's supposed to be?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Okay! Well I am adding a dish of water so I am doing Normal

Now, how does dry method work? Better or worse?

Depends on who you ask...lol A lot of people that have had problems hatching have switched to the dry incubation method and have had much better success. I've heard from a couple that say they found no improvement as well. I switched to the dry for my last hatch and will continue to use this method as it was less work and I had a great hatch (13/16).

No, the humidity does not need to be an exact number. The reason you monitor and control your humidity is so that the egg looses the proper amount of moisture thus allowing the air cell to grow at the proper rate. If you loose to much moisture through the incubation process your air cell will "grow" too big and your chick can become "shrink wrapped" by the membrane. If the air cell does not grow enough (the egg does not loose enough moisture) he can drown in the excess moisture. The best way to know wether your humidity levels are accurate is to monitor the air cells in your eggs when you candle them. There are plenty of pictorials online that show how big the air cell should be at key times of develpoment. The hatching 101 article right here on BYC has one. (Great article. If you haven't read it, I recommend it.) If your egg's air cells are growing too fast you know they are loosing too much moisture and you need to increase your humidity to level out the growth. If your egg's air cells are not as big as they should be, you know that your humidity is too high and you need drop it so that the egg can loose more moisture and the air cell can grow.

Most people from what I have observed strive for a 40-55% during the first 17 days and at LEAST 65% for lockdown. While people have their own opinions on what range you should strive for, I believe that most agree that anything over 55% the first 17 days is too high and under 20-25% is too low.

The key, in my belief is really watching your air cells and taking your cues from them. (Some also weigh their eggs to make sure they are loosing the right percentage of weight during incubation, which in turn has the same results as watching the air cells. You know if they are loosing enough moisture.)

 

[WinterChicks]

Depends on who you ask...lol A lot of people that have had problems hatching have switched to the dry incubation method and have had much better success. I've heard from a couple that say they found no improvement as well. I switched to the dry for my last hatch and will continue to use this method as it was less work and I had a great hatch (13/16).

No, the humidity does not need to be an exact number. The reason you monitor and control your humidity is so that the egg looses the proper amount of moisture thus allowing the air cell to grow at the proper rate. If you loose to much moisture through the incubation process your air cell will "grow" too big and your chick can become "shrink wrapped" by the membrane. If the air cell does not grow enough (the egg does not loose enough moisture) he can drown in the excess moisture. The best way to know wether your humidity levels are accurate is to monitor the air cells in your eggs when you candle them. There are plenty of pictorials online that show how big the air cell should be at key times of develpoment. The hatching 101 article right here on BYC has one. (Great article. If you haven't read it, I recommend it.) If your egg's air cells are growing too fast you know they are loosing too much moisture and you need to increase your humidity to level out the growth. If your egg's air cells are not as big as they should be, you know that your humidity is too high and you need drop it so that the egg can loose more moisture and the air cell can grow.

Most people from what I have observed strive for a 40-55% during the first 17 days and at LEAST 65% for lockdown. While people have their own opinions on what range you should strive for, I believe that most agree that anything over 55% the first 17 days is too high and under 20-25% is too low.

The key, in my belief is really watching your air cells and taking your cues from them. (Some also weigh their eggs to make sure they are loosing the right percentage of weight during incubation, which in turn has the same results as watching the air cells. You know if they are loosing enough moisture.)

Well, I think I understand it,
So maybe this one will be normal and I will try dry next time, unless normal works suprisingly well.

Is there anything special about bantam eggs I should know?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Well, I think I understand it,
So maybe this one will be normal and I will try dry next time, unless normal works suprisingly well.

Is there anything special about bantam eggs I should know?

Other than they are known to hatch early, not that I know of.