Just curious if switching to a digital hygrometer might help my hatches. Out of 5 hatches, one has been excellent, one good, two meh and one terrible. I callibrated my hygrometer and it was dead on. Did you find after switching to digital your hatches improved? I really wonder if the humidity is too high and the hygrometer is not showing that because my last hatch one chick pipped and died in shell and a lot of liquid came out. I haven't been brave enough to dissect any eggs that didn't hatch, I know I should have.
I like them , but I'm not smart enough to figure out the wet bulb kind . I have 2 in mine started out with 5 kept the 2 that read the same , mine tell humidity and temp ( wall mart )
well, the wet bulb is the most accurate reading you can get, but, you do have to know how to read them. I have the digitals and regular ones and wet bulb ones. I still use mostly the digitals, the accurites from walmart. However, i think that the incubator makes the most difference. I refuse to use anything besides Lyon brand incubators. Once you got those set up, you cannot go wrong and can basically throw out the hygrometers. If the thumidity on one does not read right and I have not changed anyting from last year, I know its off and change the battery. If its still off, then I just go with my gut. I do not mess with what has worked. Hoewver, with styrafoam bators, I would not trust anything and would go with the wet bulb. Those styrafoam ones are iffy at best for holding in humidity especially once you open the lid. They fluctuate too much and I would never use one again.
If you want to spend hundreds of $$$, there are digital hygrometers for scientific use. They're accurate to plus or minus .5% or so. Everything we're buying online, or at Wally World is only accurate to plus/minus 4-5%. Get a wet bulb and learn how to use it, they're the most accurate a hobbyist can get for relatively little money. ps. Personally, I think it's more about the bator and how consistant the parameters stay throughout the hatch.
Thanks guys, I have never heard of wet bulb, I will have to look into that. We bought what was supposed to be a hygrometer that just tells temperature. Sigh. Took two days setting it up (dont ask) and it only gives temp. Its cool though, it tells you the temp in the living room AND in the bator.
