Having trouble with temp/humidity in incubator

[ryry209]

Hello everyone!

I am new to the incubating process and I have just started my second hatch yesterday. I let the bator run for 8 hours before I put the eggs in, and everything was doing fine until this morning. I noticed the temperature was down to 92 degrees F and the humidity was at 23%. I put in a warm washcloth to help with the humidity but it is not helping the temperature at all. the eggs have been in for 12 hours now, what can I do to help? I have the Farm Innovators 4250 model.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Hello everyone!

I am new to the incubating process and I have just started my second hatch yesterday. I let the bator run for 8 hours before I put the eggs in, and everything was doing fine until this morning. I noticed the temperature was down to 92 degrees F and the humidity was at 23%. I put in a warm washcloth to help with the humidity but it is not helping the temperature at all. the eggs have been in for 12 hours now, what can I do to help? I have the Farm Innovators 4250 model.

It won't adjust up at all? Do you have at least two good accurate/checked thermometers?

 

[ryry209]

It is now at 100 degrees and 72% I have a secondary hygrometer and thermostat coming tomorrow...I just want to make sure that if this happens again, if there is anything I can do. I've noticed that with this incubator the humidity especially fluxuates a lot, and I find myself having to constantly put a towel inside to bring it up, even though there is plenty of water in the bator.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

It is now at 100 degrees and 72% I have a secondary hygrometer and thermostat coming tomorrow...I just want to make sure that if this happens again, if there is anything I can do. I've noticed that with this incubator the humidity especially fluxuates a lot, and I find myself having to constantly put a towel inside to bring it up, even though there is plenty of water in the bator.

It's normal after putting eggs in to have temp fluctuation until they all warm up to the air. I will say, 72% is very high for the first 17 days of incubation, so you're going to want that to come down. I use a LG9200, so I am familiar with the struggle of trying to keep a steady temp and having to closely monitor the bator. The biggest things I have found to be factors are keeping the bator in a room with a steady temp and no drafts (outside doors that are opened, windows that may be drafty) away from extra light sources that are turned on and off frequently. Windows where the sun beats down on the bator. Or outside walls that may give off cold.

 

[ryry209]

It's normal after putting eggs in to have temp fluctuation until they all warm up to the air. I will say, 72% is very high for the first 17 days of incubation, so you're going to want that to come down. I use a LG9200, so I am familiar with the struggle of trying to keep a steady temp and having to closely monitor the bator. The biggest things I have found to be factors are keeping the bator in a room with a steady temp and no drafts (outside doors that are opened, windows that may be drafty) away from extra light sources that are turned on and off frequently. Windows where the sun beats down on the bator. Or outside walls that may give off cold.

Okay, thank you very much. The temp is steady now between 99.5-100 degrees. I just took the wet towel out and now the humidity is dropping, do you have any recommendations for keeping the humidity between 55-60%? The incubator is in our spare room on top of a gun safe. It has a pretty steady temperature with not very many disruptions besides turning on the light to check on the bator. There are two windows in there but they are covered with blinds and no direct sunlight hits the bator since it is far away from both windows. Sorry for all of the questions, my hatch rate wasn't very high last time I only had 2 eggs hatch out of 7, and one chick didn't end up making it. This time I have 18 eggs and I want to make sure I am doing everything right, so any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

 

[junebuggena]

Hatch rates are usually the best if the humidity is kept at about 30 to 50%. If you're incubator is still air, than it needs to be at about 102*.

 

[ryry209]

Hatch rates are usually the best if the humidity is kept at about 30 to 50%. If you're incubator is still air, than it needs to be at about 102*

It is a circulated air incubator. How low does the humidity get before I should do something?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Okay, thank you very much. The temp is steady now between 99.5-100 degrees. I just took the wet towel out and now the humidity is dropping, do you have any recommendations for keeping the humidity between 55-60%? The incubator is in our spare room on top of a gun safe. It has a pretty steady temperature with not very many disruptions besides turning on the light to check on the bator. There are two windows in there but they are covered with blinds and no direct sunlight hits the bator since it is far away from both windows. Sorry for all of the questions, my hatch rate wasn't very high last time I only had 2 eggs hatch out of 7, and one chick didn't end up making it. This time I have 18 eggs and I want to make sure I am doing everything right, so any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

My recommendation especially for a styro bator as long as you are not in a high elevation is a low humidity incubation and monitoring the air cells to know when and if to adjust. It's further explained here: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity I have awesome results with this method. I shoot for 30% for the first 17 days and I hatch at 75% because I am a "meddler" and open my bator during hatch,

 

[ryry209]

My recommendation especially for a styro bator as long as you are not in a high elevation is a low humidity incubation and monitoring the air cells to know when and if to adjust. It's further explained here: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity  I have awesome results with this method. I shoot for 30% for the first 17 days and I hatch at 75% because I am a "meddler" and open my bator during hatch,

Thank you for your advice. So today I bought two different thermometers for inside the incubator and I put them in and they were both reading above 100 degrees like around 105 but not get exact temperature. The Bator said 99.5 I opened the Bator and let it cool down the eggs felt a little hot. I closed it and took a shower came back and the Temps were really high again on the thermometers that I bought but the Bator said lower im not sure what to do...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thank you for your advice. So today I bought two different thermometers for inside the incubator and I put them in and they were both reading above 100 degrees like around 105 but not get exact temperature. The Bator said 99.5 I opened the Bator and let it cool down the eggs felt a little hot. I closed it and took a shower came back and the Temps were really high again on the thermometers that I bought but the Bator said lower im not sure what to do...

Calibrate/check the thermometers either against a thermometer you know to be accurate or use the ice water method to check a normal glass thermometer for accuracy then check that agaainst the digital/bator thermometers.