humidity

[asmfshr]

Im having a hard time believing that the outside humidity can effect the humidity in my incubator. When the hygrometer inside the incubator reads 50% its 50 % correct.?
Im in AZ. and having a heck of a time hatching chicks.,any subjestions ? Im at 4500 ' and having not much luck.. Bah humbug Pce Herb

 

[pusskatkins]

I've also had difficulty maintaining humidity levels, even with my Brinsea. I bought two of these incubators because I've read people on here said they've programmed them and didn't have to adjust or fiddle with them for a few days at a time. I still have to add water to mine at least twice daily to keep it a 50%. Lord, when I had the Little Giant, I depended on a thermo-hygrometer that measured in and outside. I became so confused...lol...I lost a few hatches. I'm in SW Virginia, and have problems too. Good Luck!

 

[asmfshr]

I had a lady tell me that Hovabators are for the eastern partof the country.She tells me that she keeps her humidity at 25 or 30% .The batches of chicks[er... eggs] that Ive tried to hatch seem to make it to the lock down or a little sooner then die.When I open them they are not even a little dry.I am aware that they shouldnt be completely dry but these seemed to be sitting in water as little room that there was for the water.Right now I have no waterin the incubator[4th day] the humidity was 30ish for the first couple days then shot up to 50 the last two.Its kindof hary doing it this way but i have to do something.It was so easy to use a hovebator,kept perfect temp,perfect humidity[45ish] and Im drowning my birds.Very frustrating.BUT,well see this time. Wish me luck I m going in !!! Hrb

 

[asmfshr]

Hi ( Im the guy who took all the water out of my incubator) I just finished the hatch,18 chicks out of 24 eggs(shipped).It was definitely a humidity problem.After 8 days without water the humidity finally went down to 18ish so I put some water in the middle resevoir .I did not fill any of the other resevoirs for the rest of the hatch.It was sure nice to finally have a normal hatch.Are you having better luck with your Brinsea? Herb

I've also had difficulty maintaining humidity levels, even with my Brinsea. I bought two of these incubators because I've read people on here said they've programmed them and didn't have to adjust or fiddle with them for a few days at a time. I still have to add water to mine at least twice daily to keep it a 50%. Lord, when I had the Little Giant, I depended on a thermo-hygrometer that measured in and outside. I became so confused...lol...I lost a few hatches. I'm in SW Virginia, and have problems too. Good Luck!

 

[cva34]

Yea thats the problem or a problem Ambient Humidity.It varies a lot here on the Coast its normally high, like the last few days its near 100.Today its 30/40 a front came through.Rarely gets in the Teens like AZ .Its a Battle to keep the humidity where I want it....cva34

 

[Arielle]

I noticed a pattern when hatching. THe RH inside my LG fluctuated with the ambient RH. ANd ambient temp also effected the LG temp. A very stable room sure would help. What ever the RH on a daily basis, the progessive growth of the air cell seems to be the key,

 

[asmfshr]

Next time I mgoing to start with no water and just feel it out for a few days.Then add it slowly.I dont think it hurts the chicks if they dont have 45 degrees
all the time.My last batch i pulled all the water out for 8 days.The humidity was at 30 for the first couple days,then back to 50 (still with no water)then finally it went down to 17ish and I added some water.I kept water in the center resevoir for the rest of the hatch .I had my best hatch yet.18 for 24 (shipped eggs)
It cant be this difficult. LOL Pce Herb

I noticed a pattern when hatching. THe RH inside my LG fluctuated with the ambient RH. ANd ambient temp also effected the LG temp. A very stable room sure would help. What ever the RH on a daily basis, the progessive growth of the air cell seems to be the key,

 

[Pele]

There is a lot of discussions in this forum regarding the "Dry Incubation" method, and almost everyone seems to have a ton of success with it. If you think about it, a mother hen isn't going to be going for a swim, or sweating on the eggs, so it's hard to believe that she's able to maintain 50% humidity in a clutch.

I would recommend not adding any water until the humidity levels get down to the teens, and not adding more water than it takes to get around 30%. And you can put money in the bank over the fact that the ambient humidity affects the incubator humidity. I live in high desert, and I have to add about 1/4 cup of water to the incubator daily in order to keep the humidity above 18%. And my 'lockdown' isn't so locked down, because I have to add gobs of water with TWO sponges during the process to keep the humidity at 60% and above. Oy

 

[asmfshr]

Can you give me the basics? Just water at lock down ? ect... or a thread? Thx herb

There is a lot of discussions in this forum regarding the "Dry Incubation" method, and almost everyone seems to have a ton of success with it. If you think about it, a mother hen isn't going to be going for a swim, or sweating on the eggs, so it's hard to believe that she's able to maintain 50% humidity in a clutch.

I would recommend not adding any water until the humidity levels get down to the teens, and not adding more water than it takes to get around 30%. And you can put money in the bank over the fact that the ambient humidity affects the incubator humidity. I live in high desert, and I have to add about 1/4 cup of water to the incubator daily in order to keep the humidity above 18%. And my 'lockdown' isn't so locked down, because I have to add gobs of water with TWO sponges during the process to keep the humidity at 60% and above. Oy

 

[Pele]

Can you give me the basics? Just water at lock down ? ect... or a thread? Thx herb

Sure! I've had a lot of success with Dry Incubation, and you can always get more information by typing 'dry incubation' into the forum search engine too. Lots of good folks have posted their process for us all

I tried to keep my incubation as simple as possible, but I have to absolutely recommend that you keep written records during your hatch. If I hadn't done it, I would have lost track of the days by the second week, and never known when to enter lockdown.

Here's the humidity that I tried to maintain:

1.) 20 to 30 percent from day 1 through 17
2.) at day 18, add wet sponge(s) necessary to get your humidity up to 60 through 75% - maintain all the way through complete hatch of ALL the eggs.

The reason day 18 is the recommended date for humidity is that you can have yourself an early hatch, and not even know it until too late. If your chick pips early, and you didn't notice for some reason (hard to see side, or at 1am), then your chick might not make it. Better safe than sorry.

Hope that helps a bit, it's an interesting and highly successful approach to incubating.