Hovabator 1588 Genesis questions...

[sniper338]

I got in a hovabator 1588 genesis the other day. I have had it running to try to figure it out some. It has the led digital thermostat and humidity indicators on it, and fan... Then I have the egg turner for it too with quail trays put in. The incubator seems to hold the temp right there + or - .2 degrees as the heating element turns on and off. Seems to be fine...

The kicker I am finding it keeping a stable correct humidity... I filled the trays as it said to do, had it going for a day and it stayed around 73% humidity... I then read the fine print and it says to only fill certain trays... so I emptied it out and left it on and it went to 65% humidity. I left the water try empty to let it do down more and got it to 38% humidity... So I am finding out it is very finky with the water you add into it.. and it seems like I really aint going to have to add much water for it to stay in the right area.... but I dont know how fast it will dry out either...

From what I can gather I can turn it on, no water in it, put the lid on... it gets to the right temp really quickly... then add a little water into the tray, let it sit for a while, then add a tad more... and so on until it starts sitting at the right humidity... By the way it looks so far it would be overkill if I filled the whole tray..

Any advice on how yall get yours going and get the humidity sitting right?

 

[sniper338]

I saw a syringe method with a little hose going down to the tray that I liked...

 

[sniper338]

Ttt

 

[sniper338]

Ttt

 

[iluvmyquail]

Hi, I also have a hovabator genesis and had trouble with humidity control I've just finished my second hatch with it, here's what I learned about it so far:

1. have a second cheap digital thermometer that measures humidity and temperature to give you peace of mind. Temperature and humidity vary depending on where the thermometer is placed even with the fan running.

2. humidity depends largely on how many eggs you are hatching and what stage they are at in the incubating process:
-My first hatch I had 120 regular quail eggs it made the humidity go through the roof, so I achieved best humidity control by keeping red vent unplugged the entire time and filling up trough number 2 with water instead of the trough it told me to in instructions, because that inside trough is slightly smaller than the one that goes around the perimeter of the incubator. On my second hatch I had 30 jumbo quail eggs and had to fill up outside perimeter trough and keep vent plug in to achieve correct humidity.

3. Don't fill up the water troughs all the way to the top because if you move the incubator a little it will slosh and spill just fill it 3/4 full, you need to refill it appx. every 2-3 days. I took the bottom screen out during the first part of incubating and used a flashlight to easily see where the water level was at.

4. Humidity isn't as important in the beginning of incubating as it is at the end. Just keep it between 45-55% try to make sure it doesn't go over 60% the eggs need to evaporate enough so the chick doesn't drown when it is hatching, its okay if humidity jumps around.

Humidity at the end is really important you want to keep it high. I had to use wet warm paper towels in addition to water troughs to get a 70-80% humidity and it really helped them unzip faster,i had lower humidity in last couple of days on my first hatch and chicks struggled.


Hovabator is really great because it keeps the temperature constant which is the most important part for successful incubation. Good luck with your chicks.