Help Needed with Humidity in LG 10200

[texaschickmom]

I've got an LG 10200 with turner that was loaned to me. I'm trying to get a feel for temp/humidity adjustments before I try hatching some eggs in January. I've also done lots of reading in this forum for advice and tips. My problem is with the humidity. I've got all 3 trays full of water and can't get the humidity above 44%. From what I've read that's great until lockdown when it needs to be closer to 60%. I've plugged the top 2 holes to see if that would help. Any other ideas? Thanks so much.

 

[silkie_sue]

hi TCM,
I have a LG too. I place a small piece of sponge under one of the back side vent holes(under the wire) and a shot glass under a side front vent hole to add more water to up the humidity for lockdown.Just add water slowly till you reach humidity you wish. Doing this allows me to up the humidity to between 63- 65%. I also remove one vent plug at the beginning. I remove the back one and take out the front plug and turn it over placing it upside down over the vent. You can move it a bit to the side or cover the vent to help control the humidity but! if too much it will drop temp so keep an eye on it. Also the instructions say to remove the second vent plug at lockdown....I don't, I leave it as is, upside down it still allows plenty of air through.

Mind you I'm no expert

. I just finished my first hatch 6 out of 8 hatched. And I started a second hatch yesterday. This is just what I found that worked for me, hope it helps. Feel free to PM me if you need to.

Happy hatching!
Suz

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not familiar with that model so I can't be as specific as Silkie_Sue. I can give a more general answer.

Humidity is not controlled by volume of water or depth of water. It is controlled by surface area. The more water surface area you have, the more water will evaporate, and the higher the humidity will be. Adding a separate container or putting a sponge or paper towel in the reservoir to wick water out and provide more surface area are standard ways to raise humidity.

One thing to watch for. During lockdown you should not open the incubator since you can shrink wrap a chick doing that. You need to know how you can add water to the reservoirs without opening the incubator. There are different methods. With my 1588, I take some straws with the bends in them, put them together so I can put them through a vent hole, and by bending them, I can reach any of the reservoirs I need to by using a hyperdermic syringe I got at Tractor Supply to put water in.

 

[justtoni44]

HI,
Sounds like you are doing everything right.......becoming familiar with the bater before hatching.
I also use a sponge.actually, I cut a sponge into three pieces and I control the humidity during lockdaown that way.
The only thing I can add to what has been said ,is that I use a large syringe with a piece of fish tank tubing about 6 inches long to reach the sponges.
Good luck and have fun.
Oh, I also have an LG.different model......you may already know how touchy the control knob is......
moce it just a hair when adjusting....

 

[texaschickmom]

Thanks everyone for your quick responses. I'm going to experiment with the sponge idea and see how that affects my humidity. And I'll try using the straw instead of opening the incubator. That makes sense, too!

 

[speedy2020]

Anything that can hold water well will work. You can use sock, sponge, or bounce paper towel.

 

[texaschickmom]

Humidity Update! I put a sponge under one of the vent holes and found a syringe with tubing already attached that I had bought when I rescued a baby bird and thought I was gonna raise it. It works great and I've gotten the humidity up to 62%. I'm surprised at how much water I've had to squirt on the sponge. It will be interesting to see how long it holds at that percentage, too. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again!