How best to manage humidity in diy incubator?

[rockethoe]

I am planning to build a 300 egg capacity incubator. Is it sufficient to use a pan of water below the egg trays and then control ventilation manually in order to reach desired humidity

Or

Must a heating element be added to the pan

Or

Must a humidifier or humidity pump be used?


I intend to include a hatching tray to hold the chicks before briefly before moving to the brooder. Should the water tray or the input from the humidifier/humidity pump be below or above this tray?

 

[rockethoe]

Is there any rules of thumb or formula to work out the wattage of heaters etc needed per size of box?

 

[gimmie birdies]

Use a dial humidity reader. I have a foam incubator, and it is naturally 50 percent in my area with out adding water. Digital is not the best for reading humidity.

 

[Kiki]

Get a Govee to track the temp and humidity no matter how you build it.
https://us.govee.com/products/govee-h5100-mini-hygrometer-thermometer-sensors

Have you skimmed any of these incubator build articles for ideas yet?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/incubators-brooders.27/

 

[The Moonshiner]

What to do about the humidity is gonna depend a lot on what your average humidity is.
Some of us can do next to nothing and dry hatch because our levels are withing range. I'd imagine if you live in a very dry area with low humidity it might take some work to keep it within range.
When I build a bigger cabinet style I put my heating source in front of a fan and the humidity container directly in front of both. The warm air blowing across the container of water has always been plenty to get the humidity level up to what's needed for lockdown stage.

For what size wattage it's not only gonna be how big your box is but also somewhat how well it's insulated and holds the heat.
With cabinet style ones I've made that hold 200 to 300 eggs I've used around 200 to 250 watt heating elements.

More plans/ details and pics if you've started your build would help.