Disappointing hatch with new incubator

[muddyrunfarm]

I have a used 1502 Sportsman & I am new to this. I had 12 eggs due the 21st. 9 of them were almost in their original state like on the first day. the last three were pipping but I suspect (dont know here) that the humidity was not what it should be. The humidity reader was never showing the correct temp needed. Actually the therm WOULD show the right temp only in a certain spot of the incubator. the humidity read was always low but I had a sponge, a wet
rag, and a total of THREE pans of water in there which I would think has to be enough so what else could be wrong ??? I left
the venting holes opened as they suggested but I would almost think the
vent holes need to be covered up in order to keep the heat/
moisture in. I bought this unit and it was suppose to be in
good working order (everything preset for chickens) so I am wondering what I need to do to
fix this .. possibly one chick may make it but the poor thing
is weak.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Do you think the thermometer, etc., may need to be replaced? Try putting another thermometer in there and see if they read similarly or if one is way off.

 

[halo]

I would suspect your humidity was too high, with all the water you had in there.

 

[Sasquatch]

The first few batches are always difficult. Keep a daily journal and that will help you fine tune.

 

[Jenski]

What exactly were your temperature and humidity readings?

 

[the_eagle69]

You say new bator is this the one with the digital comand center if so what was your temp reading from it and humidity readings it really sounds like to mutch humidity.

 

[hinkjc]

I agree on the humidity being too high. I use the 1502 Sportsman and only fill the pan provided and even cover 1/3rd of it with aluminum foil to keep the humidity level correct for incubation. I would recommend starting with new instruments to read temp/humidity and make sure you're incubator is set up correctly. Did you test your turner to make sure that works too? If they weren't being turned throughout incubation, that could cause problems as well. Too much ventilation can be as bad as too little.

 

[muddyrunfarm]

I did have trouble in the beginning because this ( and I am sorry that I didnt write clearly) incubator was used but new to me and there is reading from the outside so I guess it is an older one.
anyway what I didnt realize at first was that the trays that were included were for quails so a) I did have rolling going on because I did not wedge something to hold the tray from sliding and b)I was manually turning for about 3 days .
I think I will take up the suggestion of getting another humidity reader so if anyone has any suggestion on a certain brand that I can put in the incubator I would appreciate it.
thanks

 

[william9792]

the cheap ones at wal-mart

 

[muddyrunfarm]

Forgot to mention yes the turner was tested and turning so maybe it was the "roll" at the beginning for the majority of eggs??. sometimes I would open the door and not immediately check the indoor temp and humidity monitor so that when I did look at it then it had dropped too much to consder. but I should have kept a log daily . I think the higest I ever saw on the humidity reader was only in the 60 to 65 range.. never higher than that. temp was like 99