Humidity

[mbleily]

I have two temp and humidity instruments. They say different humidity. Temps are very close and I have other things to see temps on so I am not as worried about that as I am humidity. I am calibrating them with salt slurry right now but my question is.........if the humidity in the house is too high and I can't get it down what am I going to do. We get rain in the evenings here this time of year so humidity goes up. The only time it is really dry is in the winter. I have a Genesis 1588. I have an older turner that fits it and have hatched before with it several years ago. I am not really good at it but I try. I just don't what them to drown when they pip. My chickens are old and I need replacements. They are not good broodies so I need to do it or buy them and I do love doing it when it works good. ;]

 

[mbleily]

If they were laid in a higher humidity environment they should be fine to incubate in a higher humidity. Small incubators are less affected by humidity but one thing to be certain is your temperature stays bang on. The right temperature has a lot more to do with how the excess water moves out of the eggs and with how the embryos absorb what they need. If the temperature is a bit low that's when things can go wrong. Monitor the air cell growth as that will give you much more information about how the eggs are tracking. Good luck with your hatch!

The temp in the incubator is jumping a little. It jumps from 99.5 to 100.8 sometimes then back to 99.5. that is from after it shows humidity so it is just a couple of seconds apart. I don't think it did that last time I used it. It keeps going back to 99.5 and my thermometers read 99.5 that on in the incubator. I don't have the eggs in yet. one that is on the floor read 98.
I put the humidity indicators in with the salt to calibrate and they are way off. One read 60% for a long time then went down to 58. The other one read 65% I am going to get another one and hopefully it will read better. the incubator humidity reads 27 now that I have it running. So I don't know what is what on the humidity.
I got my eggs from a lady that had saved them for three day but didn't turn them. I still should get some that are ok. She had them laying every which way in baskets. She has a mix of lots of different breeds but they run together. Should be interesting if I can get them to hatch. I thank you for answering me. I need encouragement and help.

 

[mbleily]

With the salt calibration they should read 75% but if they don't just make a note of how much they are out by (write on a sticker or masking tape and stick it onto the hygrometer) and adjust the reading by that much each time you take a measurement. Sounds like you'll have some cute chicks! Just monitor the air cells regularly and if your temperature is swinging around too much (and you have room in the incubator) add some 'heat sinks' such as full bottles of water. They'll absorb the heat and their thermal mass will help to keep the temperature more level. A bit of a swing won't worry the eggs and try to rearrange them regularly because all incubators have colder and warmer spots which will speed up or delay hatching. By rearranging the eggs you average out the temperatures they are exposed to so you don't get any early birds or stragglers.

Hatching is very stressful, especially the first time around. You spend so long waiting for those babies, then you stress endlessly that nothing will hatch (be prepared to be checking the incubator every 5 seconds as hatch time approaches). Candling is very cool - seeing those little babies growing is magic. This is a fantastic site to follow along with daily and it is full of fascinating information:
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/incubation-day-1.html

I have hatched before but not in a long time. I had shipped eggs and didn't have the greatest success but I know that I would have problems with them.
I put the eggs in the incubator yesterday around 5 pm. I think the incubator is doing pretty good. It still shows a fluctuation but only for a few sec and then goes back to the set temp. I appreciate your input. Thanks

 

[JaeG]

If they were laid in a higher humidity environment they should be fine to incubate in a higher humidity. Small incubators are less affected by humidity but one thing to be certain is your temperature stays bang on. The right temperature has a lot more to do with how the excess water moves out of the eggs and with how the embryos absorb what they need. If the temperature is a bit low that's when things can go wrong. Monitor the air cell growth as that will give you much more information about how the eggs are tracking. Good luck with your hatch!

 

[Flamens Farm]

The temp in the incubator is jumping a little. It jumps from 99.5 to 100.8 sometimes then back to 99.5. that is from after it shows humidity so it is just a couple of seconds apart. I don't think it did that last time I used it. It keeps going back to 99.5 and my thermometers read 99.5 that on in the incubator. I don't have the eggs in yet. one that is on the floor read 98.
I put the humidity indicators in with the salt to calibrate and they are way off. One read 60% for a long time then went down to 58. The other one read 65% I am going to get another one and hopefully it will read better. the incubator humidity reads 27 now that I have it running. So I don't know what is what on the humidity.
I got my eggs from a lady that had saved them for three day but didn't turn them. I still should get some that are ok. She had them laying every which way in baskets. She has a mix of lots of different breeds but they run together. Should be interesting if I can get them to hatch. I thank you for answering me. I need encouragement and help.

Wishing you the best, I also deal with high humidity.

 

[JaeG]

The temp in the incubator is jumping a little. It jumps from 99.5 to 100.8 sometimes then back to 99.5. that is from after it shows humidity so it is just a couple of seconds apart. I don't think it did that last time I used it. It keeps going back to 99.5 and my thermometers read 99.5 that on in the incubator. I don't have the eggs in yet. one that is on the floor read 98.
I put the humidity indicators in with the salt to calibrate and they are way off. One read 60% for a long time then went down to 58. The other one read 65% I am going to get another one and hopefully it will read better. the incubator humidity reads 27 now that I have it running. So I don't know what is what on the humidity.
I got my eggs from a lady that had saved them for three day but didn't turn them. I still should get some that are ok. She had them laying every which way in baskets. She has a mix of lots of different breeds but they run together. Should be interesting if I can get them to hatch. I thank you for answering me. I need encouragement and help.

With the salt calibration they should read 75% but if they don't just make a note of how much they are out by (write on a sticker or masking tape and stick it onto the hygrometer) and adjust the reading by that much each time you take a measurement. Sounds like you'll have some cute chicks! Just monitor the air cells regularly and if your temperature is swinging around too much (and you have room in the incubator) add some 'heat sinks' such as full bottles of water. They'll absorb the heat and their thermal mass will help to keep the temperature more level. A bit of a swing won't worry the eggs and try to rearrange them regularly because all incubators have colder and warmer spots which will speed up or delay hatching. By rearranging the eggs you average out the temperatures they are exposed to so you don't get any early birds or stragglers.

Hatching is very stressful, especially the first time around. You spend so long waiting for those babies, then you stress endlessly that nothing will hatch (be prepared to be checking the incubator every 5 seconds as hatch time approaches). Candling is very cool - seeing those little babies growing is magic. This is a fantastic site to follow along with daily and it is full of fascinating information:
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/incubation-day-1.html