Humidity and eggs and VPD

[Artistickatt]

I have several Peafowl eggs going into lockdown this week and I am getting so final weights. My thermometer actually tracks vapor pressure deficiency VPD. We use it in gardening a lot indoors and I track it for my indoor plants. It seems to be useful when dealing with incubator eggs, because it specifically measures transpiration rates. Usually we are roughing that by the calculated weight loss.

Has anyone else looked at this?

 

[Susan Skylark]

You are a total science nerd, I love it! Never played with the concept or equipment but I would love to see the results of your own attempts! My incubator humidity is all over the map but the chicks still hatch so haven’t followed up on that particular aspect but have played with trauma, stress, and treatment of pre or early incubated eggs (often inadvertently, like shipping eggs or hatching in February) with some interest. There is so much we don’t know Or don’t even know to ask!

 

[Artistickatt]

Yes, I am a science nerd, especially having made spreadsheets for this hatch. I don’t expect to do another hatch until next year (my husband already giving me the evil eye)… but I have throughly enjoyed the process.

I found and used this spreadsheet and updated it for peafowl. I only did weighins every few days and adjusted the humidity per its recommendations. In the end, I was at exactly 15% weight loss at lockdown following the recommended humidity changes. I ran at 100°, and 55% relative humidity and that is a different humidity level than 98° and 55% relative humidity. An absolute humidity level would be far more accurate. And a VPD even beyond that, lol. The Switchbot thermometer everyone loves gives you that info. I have used them for hydroponic gardening for years. I love them.


Now all I need is these eggs to hatch…..