Need Humidity Help on a Hova-Bator

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missdye

missdye

In the Brooder
Apr 10, 2016
14
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I bought a Hova-Bator incubator. Got it with an automatic egg turner and fan. It also has a temperature probe cord that allows you to read the gauges from outside. I have it set to be 99.5 and its perfect for heat wise. But I'm finding out for ducks that humidity needs to be 86% from day 1 to day 25 . And then not to mention after that a whopping 94% humidity. I live in the mountains so its not very Humid. I went out and bought a humidifier to see if it will help and the gauge has not changed. And the humidifier is blowing directly on the incubator. I have all the water trays filled in the Hova-Bator. Is there anything more I can do? If I need to get the humidity up then something needs to change. I wont be able to really do anything about the ambient temperature. And Moving it is out of the question. It is in the hottest most stuffy area possible. I'd like to turn it hotter but that'll make my temp go too high.
 
missdye said:
I bought a Hova-Bator incubator. Got it with an automatic egg turner and fan. It also has a temperature probe cord that allows you to read the gauges from outside. I have it set to be 99.5 and its perfect for heat wise. But I'm finding out for ducks that humidity needs to be 86% from day 1 to day 25 . And then not to mention after that a whopping 94% humidity. I live in the mountains so its not very Humid. I went out and bought a humidifier to see if it will help and the gauge has not changed. And the humidifier is blowing directly on the incubator. I have all the water trays filled in the Hova-Bator. Is there anything more I can do? If I need to get the humidity up then something needs to change. I wont be able to really do anything about the ambient temperature. And Moving it is out of the question. It is in the hottest most stuffy area possible. I'd like to turn it hotter but that'll make my temp go too high.
Click to expand...
Ok, before you go with that for humidity, talk to @FridayYet or

@Lacrystol maybe one of them can help with ducks, @RavynFallen as well, I believe most duck hatchers I know, run ducks at a low humidity incubation method just as they do chickens.
 
Hi MissDye,

Where did you get the information that ducks need 86/94% humidity? I don't hatch ducks, but I can't see where the air cell would grow under those conditions, leading to the ducklings drowning at hatch.

Maybe you mis-read something? Are you confusing wet-bulb temp with humidity % maybe?
 
I think Friday is right... those sound like wet bulb readings, not regular humidity numbers... I found when searching for duck egg hatching info that most of it gives the older style numbers of wet bulbs which are not used as much now except in commercial hatchers...
 
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That's really good news if I missed something. I just did a google search using these terms "hatching duckling incubator temperature" and went off the very top. I didnt check if it was wet bulb which would make sense now. I guess now I need to figure out the regular humidity needed before I acquire the eggs tonight/tomorrow. Thanks so much for the responses.
 
missdye said:
That's really good news if I missed something. I just did a google search using these terms "hatching duckling incubator temperature" and went off the very top. I didnt check if it was wet bulb which would make sense now. I guess now I need to figure out the regular humidity needed before I acquire the eggs tonight/tomorrow. Thanks so much for the responses.
Click to expand...


We're all glad to help! And at least you found out before the eggs were in there! :)

I hatch Call ducks frequently and usually run mine around 30% from day 1-23... 23-26 I go with 65%... just to give some numbers to compare too... :)
 
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this just happened to me too, but i didn't catch the mistake as early as you did! it's really unfortunate that so many resources use wet bulb readings now when the digital hygrometers are so common.
 
missdye said:
I bought a Hova-Bator incubator. Got it with an automatic egg turner and fan. It also has a temperature probe cord that allows you to read the gauges from outside. I have it set to be 99.5 and its perfect for heat wise. But I'm finding out for ducks that humidity needs to be 86% from day 1 to day 25 . And then not to mention after that a whopping 94% humidity. I live in the mountains so its not very Humid. I went out and bought a humidifier to see if it will help and the gauge has not changed. And the humidifier is blowing directly on the incubator. I have all the water trays filled in the Hova-Bator. Is there anything more I can do? If I need to get the humidity up then something needs to change. I wont be able to really do anything about the ambient temperature. And Moving it is out of the question. It is in the hottest most stuffy area possible. I'd like to turn it hotter but that'll make my temp go too high.
Click to expand...
Why are you getting it soooooo HIGH???? If you got the information over the internet please verify it. Usually that HIGH of humidity is ONLY if you have a WET BULB. I don't think your using a Wet bulb.

I have some information on my site if your interested. www.lwbarnhouse.com theres a tab for Incubating TIps.. Please check out my three methods..

HOVA's are GREAT bator. I have used mine for FIVE years...
 
Lacrystol said:
Why are you getting it soooooo HIGH???? If you got the information over the internet please verify it. Usually that HIGH of humidity is ONLY if you have a WET BULB. I don't think your using a Wet bulb.

I have some information on my site if your interested. www.lwbarnhouse.com theres a tab for Incubating TIps.. Please check out my three methods..

HOVA's are GREAT bator. I have used mine for FIVE years...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the huge emphasis haha. I did get the information over the internet and as you can see I did verify it. Thanks for the info will probably need it.


FridayYet said:
Hope you have a great hatch! Ask away, we're happy to help. What kind of ducks are you getting?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure they are Mallard. I started saving Balut duck eggs from the asian Market. At first I didnt buy any because I didnt want to contribute to that industry but when I walked in the next day and all 300 eggs were sold out I decided to save 12 lives anyways.

Next I plan on getting Mandarins, Cayuga, Pelkin, Black Runners(love the black ducklings) and one brown Chinese gosling to be the guard duck :p
 
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