Humidity, HELP

[flynn10]

I had all my ducks eggs pipping on Thursday and relly sadly all my ducklings died before they came out !!!

I bought a cheap hygrometer which sits in the incubator, but yesterday i bought one with a probe that is in the incubator with the reading outside. Both hygrometers have a very different reading with humidity but nearly the same with temperature.

I have filled both chambers with warm water and still only achieving 43% humidity on the probe hygrometer and 50%on the inside one. I don't want to put any eggs in until i get this right, but i don't know how !!!

I can't fill the chambers any fuller, so if i need to increase the humidity for hatching how do i do this. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but i have googled and googled and still no answers,

Many Thanks Jo

( really frustrated now )

 

[Miss Lydia]

I had all my ducks eggs pipping on Thursday and relly sadly all my ducklings died before they came out !!!

I bought a cheap hygrometer which sits in the incubator, but yesterday i bought one with a probe that is in the incubator with the reading outside. Both hygrometers have a very different reading with humidity but nearly the same with temperature.

I have filled both chambers with warm water and still only achieving 43% humidity on the probe hygrometer and 50%on the inside one. I don't want to put any eggs in until i get this right, but i don't know how !!!

I can't fill the chambers any fuller, so if i need to increase the humidity for hatching how do i do this. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but i have googled and googled and still no answers,

Many Thanks Jo

( really frustrated now )

I can't help on the bator issues but just wanted to say Sorry for your loss.

and to

 

[Iain Utah]

So sorry!!! Filling wells in a styro bator in most conditions will achieve a 50-55% humidity. To get humidity up to 75% for hatching, I add small tupperware lids or soap dishes with warm wet paper towels in them. Some people use sponges, others use washcloths.

There is a way to calibrate gauges, but I do not know how to do it. I did it the lazy way. I bought a bunch of different gauges from home depot, petco, kitchen store, and set them all together in bator. The few that matched up, I kept. The ones that did not, I returned to store.

Hope you get it sorted out and hatch some babies in the very near future!

 

[nurse_turtle]

Use 'dry incubation'. If the humidity is too high for the days leading up to hatch, you will drown those ducklings. Dry incubation allows for humidity 25-30% and then at lockdown, try to get up to 70%-ish.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491013/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

I use a kitchen sponge. Wring it out well and it will get you up to 75.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[flynn10]

Thankyou all so much for all your help and support. Tonight i have got the humidity up to 44% on both hygrometer, next problem, when i put the bator on the cradle all the water is leaking out the bottom when it's moving and now the humidity is at 38%.
Why is this so complicated ?? Does lockdown mean when the incubator shouldn't be opened before hatching ??. Also, do i need to keep wetting the sponges daily ? and if so do i just puts loads in before hatching if i can't open the incubator.
I love this website, thanks guys.

 

[Iain Utah]

That is why I like to lay paper towels (or sponges) in small tupperware lids or soap dishes, so it does not run out the bottom. Then, I use aquarium air pump tubing and siphon in water to those dishes through the top vent holes to boost humidity, when needed.

Lockdown means not opening bator because the humidity will escape very fast.... which as you noticed, it is very hard to get humidity to high levels in the first place.

 

[flynn10]

This morning i have moved the incubator out of the kitchen with an Aga and into another room. And YAHOO the humidity is perfect and the temperature. Should i leave it a few days to see if it stays that way. Thankyou all so much

Jo xx

 

[Iain Utah]

Great news, Jo! Sounds like you may have found a place to keep your bator more stable. I like to use a spare bathroom. Some people use walk in closets, others use their basements. The KEY is that the room you place bator in holds a steady temp/humidity. If it is drafty or has a lot of traffic, it may cause fluctuations to levels in bator.

Do you have more eggs to set?

 

[flynn10]

Yes, but i'm too scared to put them in !!! You are right though, the kitchen may have been too hot and too busy. Shall i leave it 24hrs before i put them in.