Humidity??

[MearBear]

So I know I should have the humidity at 35 to 50%, but I put water in the incubator trays and humidity went to 80%. Then I slowly reduced the amount until I had no water left in the trays. I just checked it again and its at 70 right now with no water! How do I get the humidity down? Should I just wait? Its the first day and now I'm worried And at what times of the day should I turn the eggs?

 

[Kessel23]

I found that when you put hot water in the trays it raises humidity real fast. There is probably still some water droplets around the incubator. Take it apart and dry it off, add cold water to tray 1 and then let the incubator heat up for a few hours, adjust the temperature until you have it around 99* F. Cold water does drop the temp for a while but it will slowly heat back up.

I had a large hatch over the past weekend and I had 3 duck eggs that I set slightly later than the rest, there was a ton of junk left in the incubator from the hatch so I quickly cleaned it out and when I put the water in I got water that was 100* F and put it in tray 1 and 2 for lockdown, the humidity went into the 90s, i'm lucky I was checking up on the incubator often because I was able to save the eggs. When I opened it up there was steam coming out and the eggs had water droplets all over them! That happened on monday, all 3 eggs have pipped now.

 

[MearBear]

I found that when you put hot water in the trays it raises humidity real fast. There is probably still some water droplets around the incubator. Take it apart and dry it off, add cold water to tray 1 and then let the incubator heat up for a few hours, adjust the temperature until you have it around 99* F. Cold water does drop the temp for a while but it will slowly heat back up.

I had a large hatch over the past weekend and I had 3 duck eggs that I set slightly later than the rest, there was a ton of junk left in the incubator from the hatch so I quickly cleaned it out and when I put the water in I got water that was 100* F and put it in tray 1 and 2 for lockdown, the humidity went into the 90s, i'm lucky I was checking up on the incubator often because I was able to save the eggs. When I opened it up there was steam coming out and the eggs had water droplets all over them! That happened on monday, all 3 eggs have pipped now.

Thank you I'll do it right now will the eggs be ok?

 

[cholland]

I the vent plug out? I've found I need to leave the vent open on mine to keep humity low even in the beginning.

 

[MearBear]

I the vent plug out? I've found I need to leave the vent open on mine to keep humity low even in the beginning.

 

[lazy gardener]

Eggs need to breathe. IMO, those vent plugs should be thrown away.

 

[JaeG]

I only need a small cup of water to get my humidity at the right point for the first phase of incubation. It's surface area that affects humidity so sometimes the trays are just too big. It can depend on your unique climate too so you'll need to keep an eye on the air cell size to see if you need to adjust the humidity up or down.

 

[MearBear]

I've had the vents open the whole time,I've put cold water in and everything! And humidity is still 70%, I'm really worried idk what else to do

 

[oregonkat]

Remember that humidity is dependent on surface area not depth so if one of your trays is giving you 80% when filled, try covering a portion of the tray to cut down on the surface area. Tin foil can be useful for this purpose. As you are at the beginning of your incubation you have not ruined anything. There is time to tinker to get things where you want them. Things dont change immediately with the eggs, temps change slowly internally and they respond relatively slowly to humidity changes too. This part of the conversation becomes different at lock down and hatch. You dont want swings of temp and humidity at that point.

I totally agree with Lazy Gardener, throw the plugs away. Aim for a 35 - 40% humidity for the next 18 days and dont goose it for lock down until you have your first pip. IMHO.

 

[WVduckchick]

If you emptied all the water, just give it some time. It will settle back down.

x3 on the vent plugs. Trash.