I have a new hatch of eggs in a forced air incubator. We have no water in the incubator dry and it's in our bedroom with a/c at about 68-70 degrees in the room. The temp is holding at 99.5-99.7 but the humidity is betwwen 50-60%. How is that possible if there is no water and is it OK at this point. I've read that people don't even check it if they are dry incubatoing until day 18 but isnt 60% too high?
What day are you on? If you have no water in there, there's nothing you can do except wait it out. It'll drop before you know it and if it's still very very early, you should be fine. Seems to always run a little higher the first couple of days and then levels out. Good luck!
Is your incubator anywhere near your master bathroom? The steam from the shower could be increasing the humidity in the immediate areaa, and if you don't have good return to your A/C it could be lingering there.
I would get another hygrometer and check it again. I'm in Florida with 80% outside humidity, a/c set at 77% at all times and my humidity in a fan-forced bator runs in the upper 20's to lower 30's. I only add water if it gets much below 30%. What kind of bator? The other thing you can do is take your hygrometer out for 4-6 hours, open the back, take out the battery and let it rest. Then try it again. Mine get out of kilter now and then. That's what I do and they seem to be ok again. ETA: Yes, 60% is too high for the first 18 days.
Quote:I am afraid you are misunderstanding the "dry" hatch method. Actually, the name "dry" is not really accurate as the eggs are not being incubated at low humidity. "Dry" simply means that little to no water is needed to keep the humidity where it needs to be since the humidity in the air in the room is high enough. Some areas/situations lend themselves well to it, other areas/situations will kill the embryos quickly. The first thing I would do is double check your hygrometer. No matter how much it cost, no single unit is without potential problems. Add another to the incubator and see what it reads. I would also check the humidity of the room, itself. If the room humidity is only 30% at 70 degrees then it is nearly impossible to have 50%-60% at 99 degrees. The reason is that humidity is measured relatively. This means that the hygrometer is telling you how much moisture is in the air compared to how much moisture the air, at that temperature, COULD hold before becoming saturated. As the temp rises, so does it's moisture holding capacity. Therefore, if your room temp is 70 and your room humidity is 30%, and that same air is entering your incubator with no miosture added, it simply cannot go higher inside the unit as the air is warmer inside. A/C typically lowers the humidity in the room but how much depends on how humid the room is to start with and how often the unit is running. I know up here in MA it has been incredibly humid up until recently and I have incubated all of my eggs fairly dry. I added water during hatch but even had one or two come out early, before I added the water, without problems. I know that I cannot expect the same thing to happen when I incubate in Feb as it will be way too dry. I honestly do not even use a hygrometer in my incubator anymore so cannot tell you what it runs at. I candle my eggs every few days and make any adjustments necessary by looking at the air spaces. If they are getting too big, too fast I will add some water. If they seem to be progressing okay then I leave it alone. Shooting for 40%-50% during the first 18 days is USUALLY a good way to go. Recheck your hygrometer, check your room humidity and go from there. I hope this helps and that I have not told you anything you did not already know! Richard
The dry incubation method says 40-50% humidity, but that didn't work for me, the not less than 30% is working great Here is the link to the dry incubating method https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html
we have a 9200 bator with a fan. The bedroom room temp is about 68 and there is not shower in the BR bath. I'm running the a/c continuously because I've been told that a/c will help lower humidity. I'm just freaked because we thought we did everything right on the last hatch and lost all but one. update I just found out from my 5 year old that the babysitter opened my incubator while we were at a family funeral and helped the one surviving chick out and I think that is what happened to the ramaining chicks.
68 in the a/c can make things sweat and feel damp. I would aim for 72 - 74 degrees. Keep it away from vents and outside walls. The room temp at 68 is 30 degrees cooler than the temps in the bator. You are creating the humidity in your efferts to lower it. You would probably have better luck in a room where people did not move in and out during the day and the room was a stable 74 degrees with no more than a 5 - 10 degree flux at night or the hottest part of the day.
make air vents; they should help with that! if that doesn't work, you will have to wait it out like some other people said.