First time using an incubator - help

[chickens really]

ah okay, thanks for all the help. as for the humidity, do you think it's worth adding a tiny bit of water to up it, or is 35-36% ok?

Yes I run at 40% the first week and Candle to see how air cell development is..

 

[Dgrif5]

brilliant, thanks.

 

[Dgrif5]

Sorry to bump the thread again, but i'm having real trouble keeping a stable humidity. The temperature is staying steady, but I cant seem to keep the humidity up. I was originally going for a dry incubation, but the guide suggested a slightly higher humidty of 40% ish for smaller/bantam eggs, so I tried to raise it a bit (was staying steady at around 35%). By adding a tiny amount of water (5-10 ml), it shoots straight up to about 48%, then slowly decreases throughout the day, until it drops down to about 32-35% the next morning. is this normal, as I understand water must be topped up to maintain an artificially raised humidity, but most guides and such seem to suggest topping up every few days, even though mine barely lasts for one. Is it because i'm just adding the water to the base? though the original guide for the incubator suggested doing just that for humidity (though the amount they suggested to add was drastically more at about 200ml every 2 days, which seemed excessive). Thanks.

sorry again if the questions i'm asking are obvious, or if the things i'm doing are completely wrong. I'm entirely new to artificial incubation, and I feel completely lost!

 

[Uff Da]

It's too bad no one replied to this. How have things gone?
Humidity, unlike temperature, can vary a bit throughout the incubation. You're aiming more for an average. So it should have been alright for your humidity to start the day at 48% and gone down to 32% over the next 24 or so hours, because it averages out to about 40%. In fact, it's fine to tinker with humidity levels throughout the incubation in response to air cell size. If air cells are looking a little small, lower the humidity. Bump it up if they are larger than they should be.