Help! I can't get humidity above 40%

[coyoteugly]

My very first incubated eggs went into lockdown today. I have an LG still air incubator. I put paper towels into the reservoir and filled them with water at about 4:00 this afternoon. The humidity has risen from 39% to 40% - THAT'S ALL! What do I need to do?

 

[HHandbasket]

I got rid of my LG for that very reason. It's great for incubating, but every hatching I've done in that thing, they all die in lockdown.

I would recommend seeing if you can get a different incubator to use for hatching... keep the LG, but use it for incubating and get something non-styrofoam for hatching.

It also depends on your climate. If you live in an arid climate, it will be nearly impossible to get your humidity over 40% in an LG. If you live in a hot and humid climate, you could almost hatch with the lid off! LOL!

 

[Edwards' East of Eden]

Can you spread some paper towels over the grid shelf and run some aquarium airline tubing in through one of your ventilation holes? Plug a large syringe, like comes in those chicken flavor injector kits, into the airline tubing and slowly run water onto the paper towels so the water soaks in. Do it periodically to keep the paper towels damp.

Do you have your ventilation holes open or closed? If all your ventilation holes are open, then your humidity will escape as fast as you can put it in.

 

[Wyogirl]

Cover it up with a towel, but put some extra sponges in there under the vent holes , then add water thru the vent holes using a straw or whatever you have.
I had to cover my incubator also
Ayda

 

[Country Chick]

Did you fill all three reservoir's? I have on occasion had to take a piece of foil fold it into the shape of a shallow tray, and put a wet sponge in it to get the humidity up. just dont let the chicks pick and eat the sponge after they hatch.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Did you calibrate your hygrometer? If not, you may not be able to trust it and may in fact have a much higher humidity already. If that's true, then your chicks will drown in their shells. I used an LG bator once and renamed it the "murder-bator" and sold it immediately. Take your hygrometer into the bathroom during a super hot and steamy shower and see if it ever goes above 40s. There is a thread here that has instructions on how to test your hygrometer for accuracy.

 

[al6517]

Quote:

 

[Edwards' East of Eden]

Eeek! Yes, calibrate it.

Put a good-sized (1/4 cup?) pile of salt in a bowl - NOT the iodized kind. Put enough water into the salt to make "wet sand" consistency, not "soup" consistency. Put the bowl of wet-sand salt and your hydrometer into a ziploc bag and seal up the bag. Leave it sealed for at least six hours - 8-12 is better - and your hydrometer should be reading 75% humidity.

If it's reading, as mine did, 68%, then from now on add 7% to whatever the reading is, to adjust for the difference. I made a note on the screen of mine with a fine-line sharpie marker so I would remember my adjustment amount. ("Add 7%" printed on there.)

 

[coyoteugly]

one of the eggs is starting to rock around a bit - would that indicate that it might be close to pipping? I've read on other threads that humidity isn't a factor until pipping begins.

 

[Arielle]

I had a good hatch in an LG the first time I used it. I didn't use the manual --I read BYC! Incubating turkey eggs I can easily get RH up to 85%; that is what mine is at now.

Fill the resevoirs. Wet new sponges and set upright. ALso baby food jars with tubes of paper towels. THis arrangement gets mine to 90+%RH; Honestly, because the general % is what's important (and the air cell size) I don't calibrate my hydrometer. A ball park number works.

Remember open vents is actually needed for enough air flow; these are living breathing creatures and need air exchange. I don't close the vents.

THere are many reasons the hatch doesn't hatch; mostly operator error. The manuals don't mention the aircell size and the need for moisture loss 12-14%. THe chicks are too big and not able to swivel if the moisture levels stay high.

GL