Humidity

[Basschicken]

I have a cheap incubator and it has a water tray an the in the instructions it just says fill water tray so what do i do? Should I just fill it up and let their bator regulate the humidity itself? I read somewhere that the last 3 days of incubation that the humidity should higher than usual so what should I do. Thanks

 

[beetandsteet]

First of all, make sure you have several reliable thermometers/hygrometers in the incubator to monitor temp and humidity. Is this one of those styrofoam 'bators? In foam incubators I usually like to run the hatch a little drier--between 30-45% for the first 17 days. After day 17, increase the humidity to around 50-60%. Here is a great article on the "dry" method of incubation, which I have heard great results from: http://paraguinparadise.netfirms.com/Dry Incubation.htm
Hope you have good success with your hatch!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I have a cheap incubator and it has a water tray an the in the instructions it just says fill water tray so what do i do? Should I just fill it up and let their bator regulate the humidity itself? I read somewhere that the last 3 days of incubation that the humidity should higher than usual so what should I do. Thanks

First off if you don't have one I highly suggest you get a hygrometer.
Never just fill a bator with water and expect everything to work itself out. Many of the manuals are very misleading with their humidity and none of them take into consideration the climate the hatcher is in, the egg quality or the hatcher's habits. I too am a big fan of the low humidity incubation methods (often and misleadingly called "dry") and I highly recommend it as long as the hatcher is not in a high elevation. Even with the low humidity incubation methods, you need to verify that the method is working for your eggs and the best way to do that is monitor your air cells (or weigh the eggs). I use this method very successfully: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

The last three days the humidity does need to be highered. I shoot for 75% because I am a meddler.

 

[Basschicken]

But there's no way to adjust the humidity.

 

[beetandsteet]

But there's no way to adjust the humidity.

Adjusting the humidity is obtained by adding/decreasing surface area of water in the incubator

 

[AmyLynn2374]

But there's no way to adjust the humidity.

You adjust the humidity by adjusting the surface area of water. Smaller surface area=lower humidity. Larger surface area=higher humidity. If you are not in a high elevation and you have a checked/accurate hygrometer you can try running dry and if it stays above 25% (Preferably 30%) w/o water, then you run dry and monitor your cells.