Humidity climbing - Update, it won't go down

[dragonchick]

My humidity is climbing due to the ambient air. Is there any way to stop it? No water in the chambers and 1 vent open although there are a few extra holes in the bator. The extra holes were in it when I bought it used so I don't know if it came that way or if the previous users put them in for whatever reason. The holes are small, maybe 1/8 to 3/16 inch, numbering about 15 or 20 holes in the top around where the thermostat goes. The humidity was 37/40% yesterday and now that we have a cold front coming through the humidity has risen to 48%. Is this going to cause problems with my hatch? They were only set this past Saturday evening so this would be day 5. Until this weather system started coming in the humidity stayed between 37% and 40%.

 

[panner123]

You lost me, you say the temp was 37/40? The temp in your still air should be 101/101.5. These small holes are for air circulation. Place a light right above the bator and leave it on. Open both vents and the humidity should lower. Now you have to check it about every 2 hours for changes.

 

[dragonchick]

The temp at 37/40% was a typo. That was supposed to be humidity. The temp is 99-100 as I am using a auto turner. I will remove the other vent and see what happens.

 

[Akane]

40-50% is good for most setups. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[dragonchick]

With the storms coming in my humidity has steadily been going up. I removed both vents but its still climbing. Right now its at 65% and I am only on day 7, this is obviously too high. I have some desiccant/damp rid, can I put a small amount of a Dixie cup to help draw the moisture out. Has anyone tried it? This would only be temporary so the eggs don't drown. HELP!!!!!!

Edited to add:
I have another hydrometer inside the incubator which I calibrated using the salt method and it says 51%. The Accurite digital says 65%. Temp has been holding steady at 99-100 with an auto turner.

 

[dragonchick]

OK since the storm passed the humidity has slowly been coming down, 61% now. Hopefully nothing bad will happen due to the humidity spike since eggs laid in nests suffer the same spikes when storms/rains come through. Even hens can not control the weather. Can ya tell this is my first ever hatch?

 

[Akane]

You are worrying way too much about humidity. 1 day or 2 days or even 3 days of humidity being off is not going to do anything bad. With it being spring here I've had my incubator run 65% for a whole week and still had a 90% or better hatch rate. So long as the humidity is low for enough time to make the air sacs the right size for hatch then individual days of humidity do not matter. It doesn't matter if you get the humidity to 90% for a day. You can't drown a chick until it starts to hatch because it's not breathing air right now. It's sitting in liquid already. Humidity is only important right now in relation to air sac size since the egg needs to lose a certain amount of moisture by hatch day to have large enough air sacs. A couple days doesn't have much impact long term on how large the air sacs end up.

 

[dragonchick]

OK, I think I understand. Thanks for settling my fears.