Humidity

[dheltzel]

At day 18/19 you should go into lockdown and that's when you need to up the humidity. Then it really needs to be at least 65% for the rest of the hatch, I recommend more. Yes, a flashlight should work well enough to let you see the air cell. There are a couple threads on here as well on making your own candling devices and what other's have done.
One thing you could consider is running a room humidifier in the room in the vicinity of the bator. If the room has a little more moisture the bator might hold it a little better. There are a ton of them now that don't even look like humidifiers and add to room decore.
How far into the hatch are you?

Exactly right about the high humidity. I now aim for 80% and it often spikes to 99%. As a result, my "shrink wrapped" chick problems are no more.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Exactly right about the high humidity. I now aim for 80% and it often spikes to 99%. As a result, my "shrink wrapped" chick problems are no more.

I prefer at least 75 and if it shows higher, I'm still happy...lol I feel better that way. I know that even if my hygrometer is off, it's still going to be high enough. I think the recommended 65 is too low in my opinion, but I know a lot of people in dryer areas do have a problem getting it to raise.

 

[dheltzel]

I prefer at least 75 and if it shows higher, I'm still happy...lol I feel better that way. I know that even if my hygrometer is off, it's still going to be high enough. I think the recommended 65 is too low in my opinion, but I know a lot of people in dryer areas do have a problem getting it to raise.

I use a hovabator for hatching, putting a microfiber cloth between the plastic liner and the wire, then filling all the channels (I taped over the drain holes). I added a 12v computer fan and run that until the hatching starts, then turn it off and make it still air. I'm building a "coolerbator" to be this year's hatcher and hope to get some improvements, like making it easier to clean, but this has been working very well.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I use a hovabator for hatching, putting a microfiber cloth between the plastic liner and the wire, then filling all the channels (I taped over the drain holes). I added a 12v computer fan and run that until the hatching starts, then turn it off and make it still air. I'm building a "coolerbator" to be this year's hatcher and hope to get some improvements, like making it easier to clean, but this has been working very well.

Awesome. I'm in Northern NY so I have no problems with humidity. I have not calibrated my hygrometer, but it read between 40-55 with no water during the last hatch and it runs generally what our humidity reportedly is outside when not incubating so I don't imagine it's too far off. But since I discovered dry incubation, I don't worry about it until lockdown and just keep a good eye on the air cells.