Humidity Issue with my Refridgerbator

[Wolf-Kim]

I have tried every trick I can think of to bump the humidity in this sucker up, but the absolute highest I can get it is 50% and even then, it's only after I open it and soak it down with a water bottle!

My first couple of hatches are suffuring from it. Fully formed chicks that pip the egg shell, and then die. I lost 6 fully formed quail this way and I only had 30 eggs in there!

I have a shallow pan at the top of the fridge, where the lights are, with a sponge. Then when I realized the hatches were in danger, I put wet wash clothes on the racks, directly under the fan, and THEN when that didn't work I spritzed the WHOLE inside of the fridge with a water bottle. All this only got me to 50% which isn't good. I've been reading that the humidity needs to be higher.

I'm very close to just going out and buying a small bedroom humidifier and sticking it in there! That's another $30+, so can anyone think of ANY more ideas before I resort to sticking an actual humidifier in there?!?

-Kim

 

[jimnjay]

I hope someone with a cabinet incubator comes along and can give you some advise on how to increase humidity in the incubator. I know it is all about surface exposure to water. I don't know how large your incubator is but the bigger the box the more you will need to get the humidity up. Can you place a cake pan of water on the lower part of your box? Sponges work ok but dry quickly so that does not always do the trick.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I have a round shallow cake pan at the top, with a large sponge placed in the middle of it.

I keep my hatch baskets at the bottom, but I guess I can try a pan at the bottom. I just figured that that being closer to the heat would keep the humidity higher. I'll give it a try, I only have a single egg in there now.

 

[sara]

Have you verified that your instrument is correct?

With that said, I have a hard time getting humidity up in the winter as well. We heat with coal, hot water, and it makes my house very dry.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

We heat with the wood burn stove. So it's dry in the house during the winter, but I didn't think that something as insulated as a refridgerator is you wouldn't have to worry about it.

For the instruments, I use two Accu-rite thermometer/hydrometers with the 10' probe. Unless they are both accurately inaccurate(LOL), I get the same reading off of both.

I'll try putting a newer hydrometer in there, we have laying around the house and see what it reads.

Even if it reads differently, wouldn't the "stuck" chicks that died with their beaks out of their eggs, be proof of too low of humidity? I mean why else would I loose 6 quail and at least 1 chicken chick this way?

Thanks for the help,
Kim