HELP! I can NOT get my humidity right to set me eggs in a LG

[livin-green]

AAAAAAGGGGHHHH!

Okay, I feel better. No wait....

Okay. I might be calmed down now. I am having major issues getting the humidity right so I can set my Marans eggs. I used my LG for my first hatch which was barely successful. I only had 4 chicks out of 12 eggs, but my temp & humidity stayed dead on. I figured that the issue with the poor hatch ratio was because there were "hidden" hot & cool spots, so we bought the fan kit and installed it. Now, I absolutely cannot get my humidity in the range that was recommended to me for Marans eggs-- 38% to 42%. I'm either 35% or less or when I add any moisture (water or a sponge) my humidity shoots up to 60-70%!! What the heck!

Last night I filled the middle & one side reservoir and the humidity shot up in the 60's. I emptied the side, still too high. Emptied the middle, and the humidity just stayed up in the 50's. It finally dropped back down during the day today. I tried again--filled one side reservoir and it wasn't quite enough--hanging right about 38%. I added a moist sponge--which I could easily take out if necessary--and it went straight up to 73% after 30 min.

Oh, also I calibrated my hygrometers & thermometers last night, and I am running a humidfier and crock pot of water in the same room to bring the room humidity up to 60%.

Anybody got any ideas on how to get this right? I have an auto. turner which makes it impossible to put rags, etc., in there because they will mess up the turner. I tried to provide all of the info. that you might need to know to give me some pointers. If I don't figure out a way to get this right soon, my eggs are going to be rotten!

A couple are going on a week old tomorrow. ANY suggestions/recommendation welcome!!

 

[77horses]

When you add a little water, din't just take it out right away! Let it adjust; take some out, and if it goes down a bit, let it set and see if it goes up.



Come on people! Chime in here!

 

[livin-green]

Oops. I guess I left out that part of the info. I always wait at least 30 min. after each "adjustment" to anything--water or temp. Do you think that is long enough?

Usually I wait 30, check it, wait another 30, check it again. If both are good, I wait another hour and check once more to make sure it stayed there.

 

[HidingInTheHenHouse]

I have an LG with fan. What red plugs are in or out??

 

[kyeschicks]

I've used a fan in my bator and everything was perfect in 21 days I got 38 out of 40 eggs hatched! maybe something is wrong with the bator

or something else

 

[livin-green]

Quote:
The hole over the fan is pretty much covered by the fan unit anyway, so the red plug is sitting in that hole. The other one is out.

I tried filling both side reservoirs (not the middle one) and waited--looks like I have finally found the right combination. It seems to be sitting right at 41% for over an hour, so we set the eggs. Yea! Hopefully it won't go wacky now that we've added the eggs.

Sorry for the rant, it was just so frustrating...up....down....up....down....plus, I'm already working on little sleep since that last hatch when the temp & humidity were all over the place once the hatching started.

Thanks so much to all of you for taking a moment to offer help!

 

[jay1995]

In my LG I fill up two water troughs (the middle and one of the others) I will go up to about 50% and then it will slowly decline. I used to fill up the middle and half of one of the sides, but it didnt last long. Goodluck, -Jay

 

[william9792]

i have LG's and i leave the plug in front in place till day 18 then i have to move it 1/2 way across the hole to make the humidty stay where i want it. i run my humidty at 30 to 40% days 1-18, then up to 45 to 55% days 18 to hatch complete ( i live in NC) this is what works for me, and i have 95 to 100% hatch rate and hatch around 150 to 200 chicks a month ( in ten bators) william

 

[livin-green]

Thanks for the tips. I may still need them down the road.

william9792: Do you keep up with the humidity in the room where the bators are located? I'm wondering if since the room humidity is high, if I will be able to leave the plug out--especially since I already put water in the the two smaller side reservoirs.

 

[william9792]

i do not add any humidty to the room, the bator with no water in it will hold 28% here in my house and when it drops down to 30% ( in bator) i only have to add one turkey sringe full of water a day to get it to stay at 35% humidty in bator. i would just let it your bator (humidty) stay where it is it will come down in a day or so, and then only add when it comes down to 30%, and then just a little water ( start with 1/2 sringe at a time with 12 hours between adds) then on day 18 place a 2 by 4 inch sponge in bator for hatch. hope this helps william don't stress so much and it will be OK and it will go up to 60 to 65% at hatch