➡ Quail Hatch Along🥚

[Crazydoglady99]

Phew!!!

 

[igorsMistress]

Bator is empty again.
I'm ready to buy some eggs.View attachment 1612040 View attachment 1612041 View attachment 1612042

Can't like this one Kiki

 

[H@tcher]

I'll look for foamy stuff tomorrow and report back.

Did you find some foamy stuff?

 

[RUNuts]

Are we ordering eggs? Huh???

Bator testing scheduled to start this week. Maybe.

The hygrometers are all saying +/- 5%. Is this standard? Acceptable? Could do the wet bulb, but I broke my second laboratory grade thermometer. Temperature is covered. Humidity is a concern.

 

[Kiki]

Are we ordering eggs? Huh???

Bator testing scheduled to start this week. Maybe.

The hygrometers are all saying +/- 5%. Is this standard? Acceptable? Could do the wet bulb, but I broke my second laboratory grade thermometer. Temperature is covered. Humidity is a concern.

I don't know this wet bulb stuff.
Did you salt test your guage?

If so them you know what the bator is running and can adjust the water you add or don't add.

I'm confused.

 

[R2elk]

I don't know this wet bulb stuff.
Did you salt test your guage?

If so them you know what the bator is running and can adjust the water you add or don't add.

I'm confused.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/humidity-measurement-d_561.html

 

[007Sean]

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/humidity-measurement-d_561.html

Glad you linked this here @R2elk
I wish more peeps would read these charts and understand the physics and principles involved. For most they don't want to bother with all this so they just ask questions ( which isn't a bad thing) to get an instant response to the problem their having. In the long run it would be better to have some understanding of what's taking place in the incubator, and therefore be better equipped to make the necessary adjustments to fine tune the conditions in the bator.
I refer to these charts alot when I'm hatching.
Off my rant!

 

[RUNuts]

I don't know this wet bulb stuff.
Did you salt test your guage?

If so them you know what the bator is running and can adjust the water you add or don't add.

I'm confused.

I was looking to buy a digital hygrometer. The ones advertised say +/- 5% which is HUGE. Is this acceptable? Wet bulb testing is more accurate.

I looked at the incubator warehouse offerings and they don't list accuracy.

How critical is humidity? It sounds like it is more critical than +/- 5%. Yes, I can calibrate. But calibrating a chainsaw is useless if you need a scalpel. They both cut! The accuracy of cut is kinda important. Chainsaw = +/- 1/4" Scalpel = NO ERROR (approaches 0).

Which led me to my question. If +/- 5% is acceptable, we just need consistency and relative accuracy. One point calibration is good AT THAT POINT & temperature only. The capability of the measuring device is critical. No, I haven't done the salt calibration.

Feel free to tell me I am overthinking this. But R2Elk and 007Sean's replies leads me to think that I'm not. Hence, I want an accurate hygrometer and $5 humidor hygrometers aren't.

Now, ideally, it and a thermometer would plug into the computer and I can track day and night cycles. But for that, I might as well computerize the whole shebang. If a chicken can do it, I can do it better!!!

Incubator was free.
Monitoring and control $500+. Naw, I'm not a control freak. Just a perfectionist.

 

[R2elk]

I was looking to buy a digital hygrometer. The ones advertised say +/- 5% which is HUGE. Is this acceptable? Wet bulb testing is more accurate.

I looked at the incubator warehouse offerings and they don't list accuracy.

How critical is humidity? It sounds like it is more critical than +/- 5%. Yes, I can calibrate. But calibrating a chainsaw is useless if you need a scalpel. They both cut! The accuracy of cut is kinda important. Chainsaw = +/- 1/4" Scalpel = NO ERROR (approaches 0).

Which led me to my question. If +/- 5% is acceptable, we just need consistency and relative accuracy. One point calibration is good AT THAT POINT & temperature only. The capability of the measuring device is critical. No, I haven't done the salt calibration.

Feel free to tell me I am overthinking this. But R2Elk and 007Sean's replies leads me to think that I'm not. Hence, I want an accurate hygrometer and $5 humidor hygrometers aren't.

Now, ideally, it and a thermometer would plug into the computer and I can track day and night cycles. But for that, I might as well computerize the whole shebang. If a chicken can do it, I can do it better!!!

Incubator was free.
Monitoring and control $500+. Naw, I'm not a control freak. Just a perfectionist.

Humidity is important. It is not critical that you know exactly what the humidity is. Many people control their humidity without ever knowing what the actual humidity is.

Read the humidity section in Hatching Eggs 101 by @Sally Sunshine

You can monitor the weight loss of the eggs to establish what the proper humidity is for your situation without ever knowing what the humidity actually reads. I guarantee you that no chicken can read a hygrometer or a wet bulb and the broody breeds do a great job without knowing what the humidity is.

+/- 5% accuracy is acceptable. Not knowing what the lower limit for your specific hygrometer can cause problems. I have come across a lot of people that think you cannot achieve 0% humidity because the hygrometer that they are using will only read down to 20% humidity. You can drive the humidity in an incubator to 0% because enough heat can remove all water if there is none to replace it.

If the ambient humidity is 60% in the room that the incubator is located in, you should be able to run the incubator without adding any water during the incubation phase. You would only need to add water for the final stage often called lockdown.

 

[007Sean]

RUNuts, it's a "hit or miss" with any of the cheaper hygrometers. I have so many different brands, styles, and they all have different levels of accuracy. Some have >.1% error others have ( <16% error, I don't use them ) and I have 3 that are "dead on" every time I calibrate. When I perform a salt test on my hygrometers, I let them equilibrate for at least 12 hours, then I re-test to see if I get the same readings. I do this before each hatch, not just one time per season.
Another thing I have on all my incubators, is a humidifier and a regulator. I can set the humidity at any % I need or want and it stays where I set it.
The reason I went to this system is because years ago I hatched many different species of birds and not all had the same humidity requirements. I didn't have to worry if I got to much water in the troughs or to little. Didn't have to open the bator to add water... was just a "no brainer".
Like you, I too am a perfectionist. I setup and turn on my bators a month in advance of setting any eggs. Everything is dialed in and working as it should be before I set any eggs. Yeah, it's alot of work but if I have fertile eggs, I'm guaranteed a great hatch. If you get unlucky and have a bunch of infertile eggs, all the 'high tech' stuff you have isn't going to give you a great hatch but at least I can't blame it on my incubators.