ok this is my frist batch and my frist try at incubation (little giant (still air) with egg tunner)set eggs on the 3rd of june .so far things seem good the only problem i had is the power went out for 40 min ,temp went down about 6 -9degress as we hook up generator. i was 5 days in so now we are at 12 and i hear about the humitity i filled the section on the botom as it said and i have only open it 4 times at the max. temp has been at 99.5 mostly down or up a degree but mostly on target. so now as i get close to hatch date should i use a sponge and how are you tell the humity level in their this is so much easier with a broody hen i read that little book twice it only said to fill the water rings at present level in ring is about 1/3 way down should i fill it up or not help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!experiance ones needed any information would be so appcieated. baffeled and worried
get a hygrometer. you can find them at menards or other home improvement centers, if you are not able to find one elsewhere in your area or able to order one online. i got one for 5 bucks at menards that worked well, but wasn't as quick to read the humidity as one ordered from a hatchery supply house. if you have a still-air unit, you'll have to do some reading in these threads to figure out your temps. i seem to recall it's going to read hotter near the top, than the bottom, which would stand to reason. not sure of the exact temps, though. if you had a forced air, you'd be shooting for 99-100
I agree with the other posts. Last winter on our coldest night we lost power. It was around 2 weeks into incubation. The power had already been off for a couple of hours when I discovered the power was off, my incubator temp was 78 degrees. Luckily I had a battery pack and an inverter. I plugged the incubator into it and got the temp back up. After a couple of more hrs the power came back on. I candled the eggs and saw movement. I still had a good hatch. I think this is where I bought my hygrometer and it is very accurate. GQF Dial Hygrometer. http://www.poultrymansupply.com/incubators.html Here is a great link on calibrating a hygrometer. http://exoticpets.about.com/od/herpresources/ss/hygrometer.htm
