How much water in incubator any measurements?

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

my humidity goes crazy because I'm not good at adding the right amount of water first it's to low so I add some more than it's to high what should I do?

 

[Squishychicken]

what are you using to measure the humidty? is it calibrated? what type of incubator do you have? still or forced air?

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

I'm just using the thing on my incubator I have this one

i finally got it where I want it

 

[Squishychicken]

ok don't trust that at all. the readings are often very off. mine is 20% off! so get a mercury thermometer. there should be some at your local feed store.
http://incubatorwarehouse.com/incubator-thermometer-hygrometer.html
I got this to measure humidity.

you will want to calibrate your mercury thermometer. get a glass full of ice cold water and put the thermometer in it. it should read 32°f. what ever degress off it is that's how much you'll want to base the temp off of. ex. if the thermometer reads 34 in the water then reads 100 in the incubator instead of 100 its really 98.

I dont have any experiences with that brand of incubators but I'm sure others do. it may be a little late to order one of the hygrometer online but mabey there is an accurate one at a local store.

do you have a still air or forced air incubator? I would look into getting a forced air one or a fan attachment. the thermometer the incubator comes with only reads the temps right below the heating element. which results in a reading of 99.5 but on the outter edge its really 90 or something like that. b ut the fan curculates the air which provides more even heating. I have the mercury thermometer on one side of my incubator and on the other side i have the hygrometer. once a week I'll switch them around to make sure the humidity is ok. i hope this helps.

this is my set up. the mercury on one side and if you can see the measure thingy mabobber in the middle.
I got this info from a lady who has been in 4h her whole life and actively hatches her eggs out with a great hatch rate.

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

ok don't trust that at all. the readings are often very off. mine is 20% off! so get a mercury thermometer. there should be some at your local feed store.
http://incubatorwarehouse.com/incubator-thermometer-hygrometer.html
I got this to measure humidity.

you will want to calibrate your mercury thermometer. get a glass full of ice cold water and put the thermometer in it. it should read 32°f. what ever degress off it is that's how much you'll want to base the temp off of. ex. if the thermometer reads 34 in the water then reads 100 in the incubator instead of 100 its really 98.

I dont have any experiences with that brand of incubators but I'm sure others do. it may be a little late to order one of the hygrometer online but mabey there is an accurate one at a local store.

do you have a still air or forced air incubator? I would look into getting a forced air one or a fan attachment. the thermometer the incubator comes with only reads the temps right below the heating element. which results in a reading of 99.5 but on the outter edge its really 90 or something like that. b ut the fan curculates the air which provides more even heating. I have the mercury thermometer on one side of my incubator and on the other side i have the hygrometer. once a week I'll switch them around to make sure the humidity is ok. i hope this helps.

this is my set up. the mercury on one side and if you can see the measure thingy mabobber in the middle. View attachment 1263505
I got this info from a lady who has been in 4h her whole life and actively hatches her eggs out with a great hatch rate.

Wow thanks so much

 

[MountaingateHomestead]

I agree with the comment above. I would highly recommend a Janoel incubator for beginner hatchers. The temperature and humidity are fairly accurate and they offer automatic egg turner. You can check out my Youtube channel in the link below if you want to see me hatch out some ducks and chickens. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSSsSBy85-NWPQbzT-61brQ?view_as=subscriber

 

[Egghead_Jr]

X3 on not trusting incubator readings. Use a salt test calibrated small hygrometer for RH verification and medical thermometer to calibrate temp. Google "salt test" to see how easy it is to calibrate hygrometer. Pick up a cheapo Accurite at Walmart that easily fits into incubator, calibrate it and use that.

As for your humidity jumping up when you add water it's due to the size of trough your pouring water into. The amount of water (volume) means little but the surface area of container it's in means everything to humidity. A cup of water in a 3 inch diameter cup will be much lower humidity than a cup of water poured into a 2x12 inch trough. Same volume but very different surface area of water. For example I put in a double shot glass, the actual glass standing upright to side of auto turner. Maybe 3 square inches of surface area and that provides me around 30% RH in incubator for my house environment. If I fill half the bottom troughs with water it provides me a bit over 70% RH for hatching. Your mileage will vary due to incubator vent circulation and house RH. Play with it to find what works for you but the key thing to remember is it's surface area of water evaporation that changes humidity. The depth of water only changes how often you need to add more. This is why many use a sponge for hatch time. With six sides of a sponge emitting water to air (if a wire bottom incubator) it raises humidity easily and you merely need to keep the sponge moist.

 

[SuChick]

And if you thread a bit of silicone tubing through the vent hole you can use a syringe to add water to that sponge without opening the incubator.

 

[RollTideChicken]

Those incubators, I have the exact same model, are "forced air," but the fan does not move alot of air so it's hard to tell. I have measured the temp all over and it is pretty even so the fan must be doing its job. The hygrometer on mine is fairly accurate as well, I have a calibrated hygrometer meant for a humidor and they are within 2% of each other. Mind you I'm no expert hatcher...but I have verified to the best of my ability that my incubator is running as it should. So any failings are probably on me if my hatch goes bad.
Good luck to you!

 

[RollTideChicken]

With six sides of a sponge emitting water to air (if a wire bottom incubator) it raises humidity easily and you merely need to keep the sponge moist

And this! I'm doing this for my current hatch....I think it's a really good idea.