humidity wont stay up

[Nicola]

ok through out incubaton the humidity has been farly stable but its day 18 now and im trying to get it to 60% which woule be 52% on my hydrometer but it will get there(the temp will go down even if i use hot water) and then when it starts to heat up to where it shoulde be the humidity decreases i already have 2 sponges in there that are soaked with water( not drippin though) any ideas on how i can keep my humidity up
my incubator is a homemade one

 

[Nicola]

anyone??

 

[TriciaHowe]

What's wrong with 52%? I routinely hatch at a lot less than that. I would be more worried about your humidity going to high and you will get sticky chicks.

 

[Nicola]

im also worried about shrink wrapping

 

[TriciaHowe]

I always worry about my humidity getting too high. I hatch at the same humidity I incubate at which is about 40-45% and have very consistent high hatch rates - above 80%
Of course you have to do what works for you but to me personally 60% is too high and I wouldn't force it....

 

[SunnyChic]

I don't know what your 'bator looks like, but is their space on the floor of your 'bator? I think you need a shallow container with as much surface area as possible; the water spread out (doesn't have to be deep) will help raise the humidity.

 

[Nicola]

Quote:
i have a containor about 10cm long by 5cm wide and 2cm deep

 

[Chicken Woman]

Lower is better than to high in my opinion.
I have a little system I use so I don't open the bator after day 18.
I bought some aqariume tubing and a syringe at walmart. I use the syringe to put water in my main tray. I keep the tubing there all the time. I put a very small hole in the side of bator to accomidate the tubing which goes directly into the tray. I can also pull out water and replace with hot water if I want.

I keep a sponge under the vent hole so I can put water right onto it through the vent hole with the syringe.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your hatch !

 

[gumpsgirl]

Are you positive that your hygrometer is reading the humidity right? If it's already off, it might be worse than you think.

If adding two sponges, plus having the water reservoirs filled isn't getting the humidity up, something is wrong and I'm betting on the hygrometer. You need to be careful that you don't get the humidity to high at this point so the chicks don't drown when they pip.

 

[Nicola]

i have tested it before i out the eggs in. should i take out a sponge and the little dish?