How to raise humidity???

[nhblond]

So here is my second thread trying to get to the bottom of this. I set 16 button quail eggs in the incubator yesterday afternoon, so I guess today would be considered Day 1, right? Anyway, I have a Little Giant incubator that I installed a fan in. Even with the water reservoirs full and a styrofoam cup with wet paper towels, I can only get the humidity up to the mid-30's?????? Please, can anyone give me any ideas on how I can get it up to the 50-60% that I believe is recommended? Should I add another styrofoam cup with paper towels? The temperature is 99.5 according to the thermometer in there that I trust (I have two in there, one is digital for the humidity). When I woke up this morning the humidity was at 25% (Yikes). The paper towel had dried out and the reservoirs were a little low. I promptly filled the reservoirs and wet the paper towels. I haven't gone back in to check, but I know it wont be above the 30's. This early on, Please tell me the low humidity won't have effected my little eggs!!!!! First time, and I am super nervous!

 

[nhblond]

I decided to go ahead and add another cup with wet paper towels..... I will check to see what it raises the humidity to in a little while....

 

[nhblond]

I decided to go ahead and add another cup with wet paper towels..... I will check to see what it raises the humidity to in a little while....

 

[nhblond]

So I just went in and checked and the good news is that the humidity is at 40% which is a good sign. The bad news is that for some reason the temp had climbed up a little (wasn't for very long before I caught it), so I now have it back down to the 99.5. It's weird that it did that because when I used it to incubate a peacock egg last year it held steady with no problem.

 

[JJMR794]

Low Humidity Is A Common Design Flaw In The Lg. Humidity Is Influenced Not By Water Volume, But By Water Surface Area... Or The Amount Of Water Exposed To Air At Its Surface... Trash The Cups And Go With A Wet Sponge Or Femine Napkin. These Items Will Need To Be Re-wet More Frequently But Do Much More To Raise Humidity.... 1st I Would Recommend Calibrating Your Hygrometer To Be Sure Readings Are Accurate... Also Most Hygrometers Must Be Inside The Unit (many Of These With Remote Wire Probes Do Not Measure The Humidity Through The Probe...)

 

[nhblond]

Okay, thanks...
I just took out the two cups with paper towels and put in two very wet sponges. I will go back and check to see what the humidity says it is in a little bit. I am also an adult student and I am in the process of working on a research paper, doing math homework and studying for a math test in tonight's class..... Ugh!
How would I calibrate the hygrometer??? I don't have any idea how to do that. The cheap brooder thermometer that came with the incubator I trust more than the digital thermometer & hygrometer that I bought at Home Depot (which the member that I bought the eggs from said they use. Not at all bashing, just my opinion.). This is because when I used the brooder thermometer to hatch a peacock egg and also three little finch eggs, it stayed on 99.5 the whole time and I had a very successful hatch. The digital one right now says 97, but the brooder one says 99.5. So, there is definitely the possibility that it is inaccurate. I also have (not in the bator) a cheap plastic thermometer/ hygrometer that I bought at TSC. I am almost thinking that later today I might stick that in there to see what it would read...

 

[Stellar]

The digital one have a high and low on it. I still have 3 thermometers in each incubator

it's all preference

but sponges may work to keep the humidity up. The button eggs need the most humidity the last three days, remember that

 

[nhblond]

Omg...this whole process is making me crazy!
I now have the humidity up to 57% with the two sponges.....YAY!!!!!
But against my better judgement I put the third thermometer in which has a hygrometer too.
The cheap brooder thermometer is just a hair under 99.5 (???? Grrrr), the digital says 95 (I'm sure that can't be right), and the third one says just about 100, and it shows the humidity about 55% ish...
Why can't all the thermometers be the same???? I don't want to keep having to make slight adjustments, it's too nerve wracking! I think I will go back and check in a bit, but if things are pretty much the same, I am not changing anything!

 

[Stellar]

trust your instincts, that's all I can say grasshopper

 

[JeaneeS]

I just bought a Little Giant this weekend at TS for my first attempt at hatching eggs (guineas) and I'm having the exact same experience as you describe. I can't get the humidity up past the 30s, and my digital thermometer doesn't agree with the bulb thermometer that was included with the bator. I'm beginning to think I could have built a better incubator myself for a lot less money -- and I've already added a home-made model to my hubby's honey-do list. I'm dying for this to work, but at this point I'm terrified that I've already killed my poor little eggs with dry air and temperature fluctuations. I've got water in the reservoir plus a bowl and a wet sponge already -- how in the world will I get the humidity up at hatching time? I placed eight eggs with my broody Americana and put 12 in the bator, so maybe at least I'll get some keets out of Henny-Penny. My one guinea hen seems content to run with the chickens, but I want her to have guinea friends and a husband. ;-)

Please let me know how your hatch turns out.

Jeanee
4 kids, 4 grandkids, 8 goats plus 6 kids, 2 red sexlink, 2 black sexlink, 6 Americana hens, 1 guinea hen, and 1 Great Pyrenees -- and I'm getting 6 white silkie chicks and a GP puppy this weekend.