Curious Incubation Method

[stevetone]

... What I am noticing tho is when the temp goes down some the humidity goes up and when the humidity goes down the temp goes up...

That's basic atmospheric science. Warm air can hold more water vapor, so given the same amount of available water vapor, relative humidity will go down as temps go up, and vice versa.

It sounds like your setup is struggling to provide enough moisture to overcome the loss of humid air through the oven's vents. Is there a way to block them?

 

[SilkieSensation]

If humidity is running 50% I would leave it alone. My chicks hatch perfectly between 45-60% & humidity will automatically rise when chicks begin hatching due to evaporation from their little wet bodies.

 

[yinepu]

That's basic atmospheric science. Warm air can hold more water vapor, so given the same amount of available water vapor, relative humidity will go down as temps go up, and vice versa.

It sounds like your setup is struggling to provide enough moisture to overcome the loss of humid air through the oven's vents. Is there a way to block them?

the last thing I would ever want to do is block vents for a hatching egg... chicks need MORE oxygen.. not less.. Sure when you first put eggs in a bator they don't need as much.. but as chicks grow and get to the stage where they are getting ready to hatch then need a whole lot more. One of the main reasons why chicks get to hatching stage.. then die in shell is due to lack of oxygen (carbon dioxide poisoning). So vents should remain OPEN at hatch... even in a home made bator. Oxygen is more important at hatch than high humidity anyway since as the chicks begin to hatch the humidity will naturally rise on it's own from the wet chicks

If humidity is running 50% I would leave it alone. My chicks hatch perfectly between 45-60% & humidity will automatically rise when chicks begin hatching due to evaporation from their little wet bodies.

I would too. I incubate dry and hatch dry for most eggs since as I stated above the humidity will naturally rise as the chicks begin to hatch. For geese and ducks I will raise it.. but not for chickens.
If you ever find that the chicks are having a hard time hatching it's more than likely due to fan placement than due to low humidity. For peace of mind people CAN raise the humidity at hatch.. but over the years i have discovered that with a GOOD incubator you don't need to. After all the hen does not go and dunk her behind in water at hatch. But she also does not have a fan blowing directly on her hatching eggs drying them out. Humidity DURING incubation is more important than at hatch since the chicks will suffer if they lose too much or too little moisture during the incubation stage ..which is why monitoring air cell size or weight is more important than paying attention to a (more than likely) faulty hygrometer.

Lol.. I've been hatching eggs out all my life (everything from parrots to emus) and one of the main things I have learned that is if you know your individual bator and how the hatching process works you can get 100% hatches (unless the eggs are infertile to begin with).

 

[CluckAcres]

Thanks for the advice. Im on lockdown humidity is at 50% sometime more. And my temp is little iffy. I have two therm in there and one is saying 93 degrees and the other say 100degrees. The one that says 93 is a digital therm with the hygrometer. The other is a dial therm used in like stoves. The digital is sitting to the side of the eggs and the dial one is small and short and i have it right in between all the eggs. So im thinking the dial therm is probably more accurate.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I have them blocked already.

The chicks need oxygen as they begin to hatch & breathe on their own. You should probably unblock a vent or 2. As long as humidity stays above 40% they will be fine.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Temp is not as important at this point & should be fine even at low as 97 or so. They are finished developing at this point & are just gathering energy for hatch by absorbing the yolk & shifting into hatch position inside the eggs.

 

[CluckAcres]

The chicks need oxygen as they begin to hatch & breathe on their own. You should probably unblock a vent or 2. As long as humidity stays above 40% they will be fine.

I do have a few unblocked already. I said i had them blocked but then i deleted it. LOL I wasnt thinking straight i blocked some last night to see if it would help and it didnt. So i unblocked them.

 

[stevetone]

please don't misinterpret my "block the vents" to mean "make an air tight seal." Geez...

 

[CluckAcres]

please don't misinterpret my "block the vents" to mean "make an air tight seal." Geez...

I know what you mean. lol I have a few vents that is uncovered for circulation.

 

[yinepu]

please don't misinterpret my "block the vents" to mean "make an air tight seal." Geez...

for the record... I didn't interpret it that way and I never said that

I was just letting people know that if vents are blocked it CAN cause the death of the chicks.. even with BIG commercial hatchers they have to make sure that there is plenty of ventilation AROUND the hatcher even with vents open because a "dead air" space behind them can still cause a buildup of carbon dioxide poisoning.
When emus were popular as an alternative meat source Janice Castleberry was one of the first people here in the US to perfect hatching of them.. and early on she discovered that"'dead air" spaces around the big incubators and hatchers that they were using was causing dismal hatch rates.. Once they moved the equipment back away from the wall by several more feet and added extra air movement the problem was solved.
I know for a fact her incubators/hatchers were not air tight since I worked for several years in a commercial hatchery and have used large commercial incubators & hatchers on a daily basis


And having said that.. I'm going to avoid this thread since it seems (to me at least) that I have stepped on a few toes