humidity??????????

[nyksducks]

can someone explain to me how humidity works. please feel free to treat me as a dummy as i need a full and frank description of how's why's when's and where's please????????

nykxx

 

[A.T. Hagan]

In a nutshell for chicken eggs from day one through eighteen the egg needs to lose roughly eleven percent of its mass in water so the chick can properly develop. At day nineteen the chick begins to position itself inside the egg to begin the process of breaking out of the shell ("pipping" then "zipping"). The membrane inside the shell can be rather tough and will stick to the chick so the humidity needs to be raised so as to soften the membrane and allow the chick to break free.

The actual humidity level from day one through eighteen is subject to a great deal of debate and does seemingly depend on a number of circumstances so no one answer is necessarily wrong. You have to learn what is going to work best in your circumstances and with your incubator. The prevailing wisdom from the folks that write books and extension service documents is that the humidity should be in the 50-55% range for those first eighteen days. Some folks do hatch very succesfully though with a lot less humidity.

The last three days - nineteen through twenty one - the humidity should be raised to at least 60% and possibly higher. I used 65% myself.

Those last three days are the most critical.

.....Alan.

 

[nyksducks]

thanks for that.

i am hatching duck and goose eggs, but i know the differences.

ok so that is the what's and why's now what i need to know is the how's????


how do you raise humidity? how does it work? volume? area? aghhhhhh!!!!!

nykxx

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Surface area is what does the trick. Add another pan of water, a wet sponge, use a mister bottle. Anything that increases the surface area will raise the humidity.

.....Alan.

 

[nyksducks]

ok thanks, i have a cat litter tray with a flannel in it and the lid of a cadburys roses tin and my humidity is only sitting at 30%!!!!

does the depth of the water make any difference?

what about the distance from the heat lights to the trays of water?

nykxx

 

[Intheswamp]

Depth of water doesn't matter, though the deeper the water the less often you have to add water (deeper the water the more reserve there is).

Distance from water? Hmm, I would think that the closer the light bulb the faster the water evaporates thus putting more moisture into the air. I may be wrong on this so wait till someone with more smarts than me speaks up.

Have you confirmed that your hygrometer is working correctly. It is recommended to calibrate hygrometers using wet salt. Here's the link: Wet Salt Method

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[holachicka]

Have you calibrated your hygrometer? Mine was reading lower buy 6%!

 

[nyksducks]

ok i could have a go at that over night. can i use tap water and table salt or does it have to be exactly as it says? also can i put it in the microwave (not on just sitting in there) its the only thing i can think of that is air tight, as i dont have any zip loc bags?

nykxx

 

[Rebel Rooster]

It helps if U have something for the water to "wic" thru... place a sponge (a real sponge) or an old cotton t-shirt, an old cotton hand towel... you wont have to add water as often and u can better control your humidity level...

 

[nyksducks]

ive got a flannel in there heaped up in the middle. i think you call them face cloths??

nykxx