Humidity at 56% With No Water In HM Bator ...

[Gatekeeper]

What do I do???? Do I need water??? There are no eggs in the bator as of yet....

Gate

 

[speckledhen]

First, calibrate your hygrometer to make sure it's correct. How is the atmosphere where you are at the moment? We have 90% humidity where I live and I still have to add water to the bator to get to 50%.

 

[Gatekeeper]

Im using the Accurite Themo/Hy ... I have 6 - 5/8" air holes drilled into the bator ... Louisiana is normally humid even during winter

And the humidty is already at 56% without water.

Gate

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

I'd say roll with it... My humidity stays between 40 and 55% during incubation, and at hatching I increase it as much as I can.

 

[speckledhen]

One of my AcuRites is about 10% too low on humidity and my other one is 4% too high. They are not technically considered incubator instruments, so they are not always on target. I would calibrate it by putting it in a ziplock bag with a small container of wet salt. Leave for 8 hours at least, then it should read 75%. If not, then you can add or subtract to get your actual bator humidity



That said, you may not need water at this point, being where you are.

 

[Gatekeeper]

Excellent idea thank you SH for the suggestion. But when you say "wet salt" how wet is wet? Pasty?

Do I remove the probe from the bator and do that or can it done while in the incubator?

Thanks again
Gate

 

[speckledhen]

You have to put the entire unit in with the salt so you have to remove from the bator. About 1/2 c salt to 1/4 c of water is usually recommended, but just like wet sand at the beach is the goal.

 

[Gatekeeper]

Gotcha ... that includes the actual unit also? Ok here goes

Gate

 

[hinkjc]

I agree verifying the thermometer is important. If the temp reading is lower than it should be, then the humidity will read higher. Both balance each other.

 

[speckledhen]

So true, a real balancing act, like Jody said. One does affect the other. There is more leeway with humidity than with temp, but the main thing with humidity the first 18 days is to be sure it isn't too high. There is quite a range that is acceptable till that point.