Brower Top Hatch Humidity?

[Feathered Wings]

Does anyone have a Brower Top Hatch?

I have one and hatched in it 3 times last year my hatches were good.

I only used the thermometer that came with it and struggled to keep it at 99.5.
I didn't use anything to measure the humidity just kept the groove full like the instructions said to do.
I completely filled the bottom with water when they began hatching and had very good hatches.
On all three hatches of 35 to 40 eggs i lost between 5 to 10 that didn't hatch.
So this year i thought i would get a thermometer with humidity on it i bought and acurite at walmart.

I made a blanket for it and now have it running but with no eggs all my 3 thermometers read diferently.

The original one is on the turner and it reads 99.5

Then i have a small white one thats bantam egg level it says 97 degrees 60% humidity

Then the acuright is at the top and it reads 100 degrees and 57% humidity

I know the humidity is to high and i'm going to adjust that by removeing some water.
Which one of the thermometers should i trust and what should the humidity be in a Top Hatch?

I really need some advice from someone who has one of these

 

[bigjohn]

I have a top hatch and got a very good hatch from my quail eggs last Spring. BUT, I did have many issues with getting the temp just right since it reads differently in each part of the incubator. It appears that it reads one temp on one side and a different on the other. I even went as far as installing a small computer fan in the top to circulate the air but still had uneven temps. Finally, I went back to the original configuration with no fan and adjusted the temp AT EGG LEVEL to be 99.5. As the eggs turn, the temp changes a bit since it goes to the other side that has a slight different temp, but not enough that it caused a real problem. I did notice that the eggs took longer to hatch than normal. I drilled a hole thru the side of the unit at egg level so I could use a digital thermometer to check the temp right where it counts. That has helped. I did throw a small towel over the unit during the incubation just to keep the temps more even. It was definitely frustrating no being able to get even temps throughout the unit, but it still worked great. I think after several hatches, you can get it just right and get consistent hatches. The humidity was never an issue since I kept the tray full around the edges until the last 3 days. Then I filled the tray with water to make sure there was enough humidity. I have owned other incubators and used several homemade units and I think you have to 'learn' a particular unit and it quirks so you can get good hatches. At least in the price range we are talking about. More expensive incubators are definitely less troublesome and let maintenance. When you hatch with the Brower, you feel like a mother hen with her young since you spend so much time monitoring and checking your eggs and chicks unitl they all pop out and start chirping!

 

[Feathered Wings]

Thank You Big John

I made mine a Blanket thingy this time to go around it and it has done wonderful

I tried and was

all last spring i did 3 hatches Mar,Apr,May and all 3 i was a mother hen watching the temp.

This go round i decided like others here to make a blanket for it and it is just great.

I started it yesterday and got the brower Themometer to 99.5 it stayed there all night and it was 61 degrees in the house when i got up this morning and no change it still read 99.5.

I didn't use the humidty thing last spring and thought since everyone seems to worry with the humidity. Well i would try and see what mine is so it's 42% with a temp of 99.5 on the brower thermometer.
The acurite says 100 and thats the 42% humidity thermometer

Should the humidity be higher?

Will the 5 Degree difference in thermometers make a diffrence in the hatch?

 

[bigjohn]

I use several thermometers and don't trust any one thermometer completely. It seems that the most accurate that I have found a small digital one with a long lead that you can lay on top of the eggs or anywhere in the incubator. The Brower cheap thermometer is actually fairly accurate.

If the eggs hatch too soon, lower the temp the next hatch. Too late, raise the temp at bit. I don't worry too much about humidity as long as you keep the tray full all around the edge during the incubation period. The instructions for the Brower recommend keeping it full and not letting it run dry. So I would worry more about temp than anything else.

I am still learning to use my Top Hatch and hopefully will get better and better hatches as the time goes by. I am definitely not an expert on hatching like many other in the forum even though I have hatch many birds for many years in different incubators.

John

 

[Feathered Wings]

Thanks for the info John

I'm setting my eggs tomarrow at the brower temp of 99.5 and the acurite at 100 i believe this is good.
my humidity is at 48% so it looks good

Wish me Luck