Got my bator, some questions.

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
You can take a piece of paper towel and fold it up and wet it, and lay it on the screen - paper towel seems to dry out faster, though, so you'll have to check it (and probably wet it down) once or twice a day.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Alternatively, if you have a small dish you can partially fill it with water and stick the sponge or paper towel in it.

Since the chicks won't be hatching for awhile, and climbing into it, it'll be safe for the first 18 days at least.

If you're only putting 10 eggs in there, you'll have room for it - just make sure it is shallow enough not to hit the heaters in the top of the bator - make sure it isn't touching anything up there.

 

[dave_Cash69]

do you ring it out or keep it soppin wet?

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Oh, and towards the end, when you stop turning, I would put the humidity at about 65% up to 70% (this time of year).

I had a problem with the membranes sticking to the chicks and they would die after pipping if they didn't hatch out fast enough. The membrane would stick right to their wings or feathers and would stick that to their head or body so they couldn't move well enough to zip and get out.

In summer when it's humid outside (and therefore inside) the humidity probably won't need to be so high.

meri

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
It depends on how much it puts the humidity level at - if you leave it sopping wet it'll drain a little into the bottom of the bator, but if you wring it out too much it'll dry out too fast and you'll be wetting it more often.

If you put it into a small dish it saves the problem of wringing it out at all - just lay it on top of the dish so it hits the water and it'll wick up some of it at a time, and you'll have a reservoir that is easier to refill.

if you don't use the dish, I would wring it so that it isn't dripping, but not so that it would dry out quickly - sort of almost drippy, but not quite.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

It's the surface area of the water that raises the humidity more than how sopping wet it is - if you fold the paper towel into fourths, it'll be large enough for your purposes - if ya need to lower the humidity, maybe fold it again so it is smaller.

with the sponges I have whole ones, and I have cut up ones, so I can put in a small sponge if I need more or less.

 

[dave_Cash69]

okay; i have a dish inside of there
i folded up a paper towel and have it submerged in the warm water filled dish.
should this suffice? or am i doing it totally wrong?

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

this is my hatcher at the moment - yeah, a couple eggs aren't totally clean - I don't sweat that too much. If they are really soiled, I toss them and don't incubate them (or I wash them and eat them).

My humidity with this set up is running at about 72%

You wouldn't need this much water area for a lower humidity.

One full sized sponge wet and laid on the screen would be fine for 35% - 45% .

 

[dave_Cash69]

well; how about the paper towel?

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
You want part of it sticking out, like the sponges I have in the pics - the water level is below the tops of them, they are wicking the water up as needed to wet the sponge - same with the paper towels, you'll want to have the surface of the paper towel above the water level.