How to get humidity up?

[Kbruce]

Hi everyone I woke up this morning to 4 pips all at once yay! But my humidity is at 50% I tried squirting water through the vent plug so as not to open the lid but it's still at 50% I can hear them peeping too is there anything I can do to raise humidity without opening the lid? I thought about wetting the sponge again but I would have to open to get it out and put it back? Will 50% be ok and just leave it or get it up? Please advise me!

Thanks so much!

Kbruce

 

[rancher hicks]

What I do is use a straw to "spread" the water to more "area" of the incu. 50% is not bad you want to try for 65%, but do not panic if it doesn't go quite that high. If I have not sent you the Practical Poultry article on hatching PM me your e-mail and I will.

I wish you successful hatching,

Rancher

 

[cmom]

I have an LG with a fan. Here are some of my LG tricks, to bring the humidity up at lockdown I put some paper towel under the wire and make sure the reservoirs are filled with water. The paper towel may get wet but that is ok. I also add a half pint mason jar with warm water and a sponge in it. The sponge acts like a wick. Also if you are using a LG incubator the small holes line up perfectly so you can squirt water into the holes and the water will go into the jars to fill them and don't have to open the incubator up. The temp will change and that is ok too don't adjust it just let it settle out. Sometimes I may need to put two jars in the hatcher. I keep the humidity around 35% during incubation and bring it up to around 75% during lockdown. The plugs are out during lockdown. The eggs need the added airflow. If the humidity goes down during lockdown I put a straw in a hole and squirt a little warm water on the paper towel. the moisture will spread out some but that is ok. I did put a milk bottle cap on the thermostat control which works great. Since I have been doing my hatching like this my hatch rate has went up and I have had 95% to 100% hatches which I never thought before was possible. Good luck...

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know which incubator you have, but I use a straw and a syringe to add water without opening the incubator. I put two or three of those straws with the accordian joints together (actually cut them off around the accordian joint so the total straw is not too long) and put it through a vent hole.

You raise humidity by increasing water surface area. Wetting the sponge would work. Adding water to a different water reservoir will help if you have one.

I suggest warm water. Don't use hot water because incubators do not shed heat real well and you might cause a temperature spike. Cool water will warm up because of the heater, but warm water, around 100 degrees, will evaporate faster and raise the humidity faster. Did you maybe squirt cold water and it will just take time for the incubator to heat it up so it will evaporate?

I'd personally try to raise the humidity some. Different people use different humidities, but 50% is low for me.

 

[Wolftalk]

Im sure that it would be okay if you couldnt get your humididty up to past 50%. I hatched my reggscued eggs with only a wet spoge and a desk lamp. They all hatched and are just fine. I hope i could help good luck and keep us ppsted. Id love to see pics when they hatch!!!

 

[Kbruce]

Thanks everyone these are great tips and I'm a little less panicked

I have the LG without a fan... I think I will try to put the sponge in a little glass bowl with warm water which means I'll have to open a couple of seconds but that should help! Thanks for the pics and advice! I'm on day 20 and tried the dry incubation raised humidity up to 60% on day 18 but it dropped in the last two days...



Thanks for the pics and advice! I love this site everyone is so ready to help!!

 

[bigstack]

I used the LG for my first year. I hate it!!!
But.....
It worked, it just took alot of fussing over!
anyways..... I did staggered hatches. When I had to open the bator to remove shells/chicks, this is what I did and had 100% hatches.

First I woould clear off the cabinet in my smallest Bathroom.
then place a small room heater in the room on high.
crank the HOT water in the shower. (adjust for NO steam)
Close off all doors, vents, and windows.
wait untill the room was very HOT and humid.
NOT STEAMY!!!!!
turn down the shower if the room fills with steam!!!
Steam will condense on the eggs and suffocate the chicks!!!
You only want The room HOT and VERY HUMID (again NOT STEAM)
I then took the bator in the room.
close the door and plug the bator back in.
Now when I open the bator there will be no Loss of humidity or heat.
You can do this to replace sponges/Paper towels/clean out/ remove chicks....ETC
close the newly prepped bator
I now place the fresh chicks in the waiting warm brooder.
now unplug and move the bator back to it's origonal local.
I have done this numerous times and have had great luck doing so with staggered hatches and using a very sorry LG bator!

Now I have a fantastic sportsman bator with turner and automatic humidity control.
It holds 240 chicken eggs but have only hatched out 65 at one time (over a 4 week staggered hatch- 98% using my own eggs!)
I keep humidity around 40-50% until lock down. Then crank it to 90% for hatch. even doing staggered hatch I have not had issues do to humidity. I have had eggs at 80-90% humidity for 14 days and had no problems.

I hope this helps! But remember STEAM IS DEADLY!!! You just want it VERY humid!!! adjust the shower temp to cause humidity NOT steam!!!

Good luck and God Bless!

 

[thebanthams]

I love this site too !!

I am new to hatching babies any time !

I am like a very nervous mom !

I love it when people help us out !!!

THANK YOU!!!

 

[ajcress]

Quote:
I have used the LG still air for over 5 years + and have always had eggcellent hatches!! I put it in a room where the temp. is most stable and pulled both plugs out of the top and let it settle to 100 degrees. a little h2o in the little bottom groves and hand turnes 3 times a day. on day 18 before lock down I pulled eggs out and stuffed papertowels into the groves where the water goes and then filled it back up with warm h2o. I sometimes also used a very small container with a pices of spounge if I needed more humidity. most of the time I just used the papertowels in the bottom and thats all i needed. always hatches 98 to 100%. I used a air hose from a fish tank (clean) and ran thru one hole into the square to put more warm h2o if needed. Good luck and don't give up on the ol lg. after you find what works for you and your bator it will serve you many good years of bringing little fuzzy butts into the world!!! I just got a GQF 1502 sportsman and for the first time didn't hatch a thing... very shocked so I have to find a groove for the new bator!! this site is full of very useful info and very helpful & knowledgable people who will give advice...


again good luck and God bless!!!

 

[jessica1987]

What I do is use a straw to "spread" the water to more "area" of the incu.  50% is not bad you want to try for 65%, but do not panic if it doesn't  go quite that high.  If I have not sent you the Practical Poultry article on hatching PM me your e-mail and I will.


I wish you successful hatching,


Rancher