Best humidity for hatching in Janoel 12?

[ev-chicka]

I purchased a Janoel 12 and set eggs to hatch today - my very first batch! I’ve read a lot about incubation but there seems to be very different suggestions about humidity levels during first 18 days. I’m not sure whether to try a dry hatch, or what rate people have found gave best results in this particular incubator?

I have added 2-3 teaspoons of water which keeps the level around 47%. The instructions say 100ml but that is way too much water. Is 40-50% a good range or should I go higher or lower? And for lockdown?
I appreciate any insight from those who have hatched with Janoel 12! I’ll add I’m in Ontario Canada in middle of winter.

 

[Pennys Mama]

That's the same as one of my incubators. I've been having the best hatches using dry incubation (30%-35% humidity) up until lockdown at which point I fill the bottom of the incubator with water, raising the humidity to 70%. I've been having about an 80-85% hatch rate.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I have several incubators, but I don't have a Janoel 12. What I will say is this, it's going to be different depending on where you are keeping your incubator and what your weather is like where you live. That's why you see so many varying opinions on what works best. What I can tell you without a doubt is that if you keep the incubator in a room with consistent temperature and humidity then your incubator will in turn keep more consistent numbers.
If you don't have one already, I would also recommend using a secondary calibrated thermometer/hygrometer and don't rely on the incubator readout alone because they are quite often incorrect.
Whatever you decide, you will eventually find the sweet spot for humidity in your location in your incubator! Good luck on your hatch!

 

[ev-chicka]

That's the same as one of my incubators. I've been having the best hatches using dry incubation (30%-35% humidity) up until lockdown at which point I fill the bottom of the incubator with water, raising the humidity to 70%. I've been having about an 80-85% hatch rate.
View attachment 1999401

Thank you! That’s what I was wondering, if lower humidity works out better for this unit. Does it matter if I’ve started at 40-50% humidity for the first day and now lower it to 30-40%? The temps in Ontario right now are all over the place from +10C to -10C and I think the humidity of our room is around 30-40%. I’m not sure how that factors into all of this tho.

I’ll consider lowering my humidity tho!

 

[ev-chicka]

I have several incubators, but I don't have a Janoel 12. What I will say is this, it's going to be different depending on where you are keeping your incubator and what your weather is like where you live. That's why you see so many varying opinions on what works best. What I can tell you without a doubt is that if you keep the incubator in a room with consistent temperature and humidity then your incubator will in turn keep more consistent numbers.
If you don't have one already, I would also recommend using a secondary calibrated thermometer/hygrometer and don't rely on the incubator readout alone because they are quite often incorrect.
Whatever you decide, you will eventually find the sweet spot for humidity in your location in your incubator! Good luck on your hatch!

Thank you! I do have a separate thermometer/hygrometer inside the unit the same as Cedar Creek Farm Lady, since the unit doesn’t have hygrometer. It is calibrated and is holding steady.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Not to complicate things too much for you but when I first started incubating I would candle the eggs and mark the air cell before setting them in the incubator so that I could watch the development. This was the easiest way for me to gauge whether the humidity was appropriate. Some people even weigh their eggs, weighing wasn't for me personally but everyone has their preferred method! Here's an image I found for an example.

 

[Pennys Mama]

Thank you! That’s what I was wondering, if lower humidity works out better for this unit. Does it matter if I’ve started at 40-50% humidity for the first day and now lower it to 30-40%? The temps in Ontario right now are all over the place from +10C to -10C and I think the humidity of our room is around 30-40%. I’m not sure how that factors into all of this tho.

I’ll consider lowering my humidity tho!

Sometimes I add water on the day I set the eggs if they've been stored or refrigerated very long, so I think letting that water go ahead and evaporate would be fine as that's basically what I've been doing.

 

[Linda1218]

I put 100ml every 2 days n 5 of 6 Hatched.

 

[aliciaplus3]

Not to complicate things too much for you but when I first started incubating I would candle the eggs and mark the air cell before setting them in the incubator so that I could watch the development. This was the easiest way for me to gauge whether the humidity was appropriate. Some people even weigh their eggs, weighing wasn't for me personally but everyone has their preferred method! Here's an image I found for an example.

Egg-celent advice!
2 things folks forget to tell you or ask when giving humidity advice, elevation and where the eggs came from/egg color. If you are at a lower elevation then I am rambling, but if you are over 4000 feet elevation is something to think about.
At higher elevation there is less oxygen, so eggs laid at lower elevations will not hatch as well as eggs laid at the same elevation. The suggestion to mark air cells will alow you to see how fast your eggs are losing moisture and adjust the humidity so that they lose enough.
The eggs: not every egg is created equal. Ie Dark brown or green eggs get that color because the hen puts a coating over the shell, that coating will slow down moisture loss, folks struggle to hatch Dark eggs because they run the humidity higher, maybe where they had luck with lighter eggs?, but the Dark eggs do not lose enough moisture sometimes and the chicks drown. Reverse that theory with small or Light colored, even porous, eggs. These eggs, and eggs coming from a lower elevation, will lose moisture faster so there is a chance that the embryo will dehydrate and not be able to hatch.
If you track air cells then you can adjust for either situation, air cells growing slowly lower the humidity or air cell growing too fast raise it and have a better chance to hatch the eggs you have set.
At the same time do not panic if the humidy hits a low spot 10% for a short time or if it is temporarily high 65% the average is what you are looking at. So if I am shooting for 30% in my nurture rite 360 and adding water brings it to 45% for a day then I just do not add water the next day, the humidity drops to 19%, I add water every other day alowing it to dry out between times because 45% is too high for what I am hatching right now.
Local humidy plays it's own role as well as the humidity in the room that you are running the incubator in but watching air cells is the best way I know to learn what works where you are.