Hovabator 1586 humidity??? help!?

[Morri]

Ok so very eggcited!!!! i just bourght my first incubator - well it was my birthday present...

it is a new hovabator 1586, i just set it up and its running at about 100 farenheight with nothing in it, i plan to get some eggs tomorrow to hatch for practice run..... and under the wire it has a plastic tray with about 5 sections to fill with water so as the instructions suggested i filled just the middle on slightly but i dont have a hydrometre so how do i know if the humidity is around 55%???? also when it goes into lock down and i am supposed to add more humidity how many of the sections should i fill with water??? Thanks

 

[chkinut]

i'm running a hova-bator 1588 for the first time and i have 9 showgirl eggs in there on day 2. i wanted to do a dry hatch.....but i know u should at least keep the humidity over 25%. so i bought a digital hygrometer/themometer combo. anyway.....i put just a "small pour" (i don't measure) of water in one of the reseviors and it's been reading around 35 - 41% on the hygrometer. lastnight i checked it and it had gone down to 21% humidity and i put an other small pour in....i'm guessing around 1-2 TBS of water.....good luck!

 

[Morri]

ok thanks i was really confused hey goodluck with your chicks - i love showgirls i wonder if you could smuggle me a few in australia.... hey if i can get the eggs tomorrow we can be hacthing buddies!!!!

 

[Intheswamp]

But it also depends on your environment. If you live in an environment that is more arid or more humid than chkinut's it will probably require a different amount of water in the troughs to create the same humidity level in your incubator. A hygrometer would be *very* useful for you.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Morri]

ok thanks ed im going down to the feedstore tomorrow to get the cost then compare it to ebay...... thanks for that tip!!!

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
I would think by the time you figure shipping in you'll be better off at the feedstore or either a discount store. Basically, most folks simply use a household digital unit that you can't pick up at lots of places.

The first post in this thread has pictures of three popular "household" ones that are available here in the US. I think I got all three of these at Walmart. I'm not sure what might be offered down your way... Wallyworld Digital Thermometers/Hygrometers

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[chkinut]

Morri, i sure wish i could smuggle u my extra showgirls! i've got 9 eggs in my bator and i'm only gonna keep one as a house chicken! don't worry though, he'll have other chicken friends. i'm gonna have 4 standards outside and he'll probably have a silkie friend that stays inside with him. (or her) u should see these showgirl eggs! they're the tiniest eggs i've ever seen!

 

[Bravo]

I just wanted to add a quick thought on humidity.

I've had humidity issues in the past so this time I took a different approach. Instead of filling the troughs in the bottom on the incubator I used the bottoms of waterbottles filled with water. With humidity, it is not the amount of water but the surface area of the water that determines relative humidity.

During days 1-18 I was able to maintain 35% humidity with only 1 waterbottle bottom in the bator.

For lockdown I put 2 in there and rubberbanded screened tops so there were no casulties.

I have to say that it was SO much easier than the troughs. With the troughs, if the humidity is too hight is is almost impossible to get the water out of them without compromising your eggs.

Just my $0.02

 

[Morri]

Hey thanks guys!!! umm Bravo what do u mean by waterbottle bottome like how big???? like just waterbottle u buy at the shops (little ones) or bigger bottles!?! i see what you mean it would be near impossible to get rid of water except with a syringe..... thanks