I have never fully understood the humidity conditions

[purslanegarden]

I use a hovabator with the plastic tray for holding water.

Generally, what I understand is, more water, means more humidity. Somewhere I read , maybe a long time ago in the instructions, that I can put water in just some of the carved out areas of the plastic tray, to get a certain % of humidity, and add to the other areas, to get more humidity.

But whether I added a little bit of water or a lot of water, the hygrometers that I use (which have been calibrated to let me know the approximate humidity) do not really change much, eg I don't see anything like 50% going to 70%. It might be more like 50% to 55%.

There was one time where I saw the humidity actually being noticeably changed --- it was when I added somewhat warm water to the container. That was partially because I thought of the situation where I am taking a hot bath and the bathroom ends up with a lot of humidity in the room. So when I added warm water like that to the incubator, the hygrometer did change up to a much higher number. However, after some time when the water cooled down, the humidity numbers returned to what they usually show.

So have I been doing it wrong to add not-warm water to the incubator or am I doing it wrong in general that I'm not getting higher humidity % when needed?

 

[sawilliams]

More surface area more humidity. It sounds like your water tank is to small for significant humidity in the bator. Some people recommend a wet sponge to increase surface area. Water should be added warm so as to not reduce humidity or temp of the bator.

 

[lomine]

I have the same kind of incubator and when I add water to the tray the humidity doesn’t make a huge jump. I like it that way because it gives me better control. If I need it higher I just add water to multiple slots. I keep a container of water right by the incubator to add water as needed.

 

[Dmitrys]

Inexpensive hygrometers offten show nonsence. I'd use one more hygrometers

 

[purslanegarden]

I use a tray that rotates the eggs, so there is barely any additional surface to lay a wet sponge, but I can see what I will get if I add a sponge of some sort.

The hygrometers I use are in the $10-15 range, usually with a combined thermometer feature.

Also I just remembered something which may be relevant. I only have opened 1 of the openings in the incubator (one of the 2 holes that initially come with the plastic red plug). I had tried opening both, closing both, etc without any significant change in temperature or humidity (as shown by my reading devices) so I did not know the impact that makes on the incubation process, too.

 

[oregonkat]

Humidity is controlled by surface area of water, not volume, which is why the channels in your tray are designed the way they are. It takes a while for the body of water to reach temperature in the bator also which is why warm water spikes the humidity level quicker. The ambient humidity in your house or incubation room also plays a role in the levels of humidity in your bator. Some people who live in very humid areas do not have to add water at all during the initial incubation period.

I have a hovabator also and I have found that running the incubator completely empty (no eggs) prior to setting eggs and messing around with the water in the channels I can pretty much regulate my humidity where it needs to be. If filling one of the channels makes the humidity too high, I cover part of the channel with some parchment paper (you can use tin foil for this also but I dont know if that messes with the temp). If you are in a particularly dry area, you may need to use more than one channel. Make sense?

I dont know if this is what you needed to know, but I hope it helps.