I know! I should have got one from the start, but I have one now what?

[Harley's girl]

I know! I should have got one from the start, but I have one now what?
I am talking about a hygrometer! Can someone give me a chart from day 1 to day 21 of what the humidity is suppose to be? Thanks, Char

 

[speckledhen]

No chart needed! Pretty simple, really. Anywhere from 40-50% the first 18 days, no higher, works best. I even have let mine slide to 35% on occasion. At Day 18, when you stop turning, raise is to 65-70%, for chicken eggs, that is.

 

[Harley's girl]

Thanks! So to get the humidity down I simply remove some water from the rings? And to raise it I add more? Thanks for the help!

I know my little chicks appreciate it!

 

[Harley's girl]

It also has a thermometer! I have a digital one. The one on the hygrometer is reading different than the digital that I have. Is there a place that the hygrometer should be ie, top, bottom, sides? Thanks

 

[speckledhen]

It's easier to add humidity slowly than to remove it, but to get it down, you'd open the vent plugs on the bator for a few minutes and it will come down. Which hygrometer did you get? Remember that temp is always more important than humidity, which can vary a bit. Better too low humidity than too high for the first 18 days, if it has to be off some. Also, sometimes, it takes awhile for a thermometer/hygrometer to regulate and give a proper reading. I'd be sure it's been in there for at least two hours to get the actual reading. Also, there are different areas in the bator that will be cooler and warmer, depending on air flow inside.

 

[Harley's girl]

Well, one of my incubators is a forced air and the other is not, where should I put them? I got the Flucker's hygrometers

 

[speckledhen]

So, your Fluker's is the combination digital thermo/hygro? I have one. It's very sensitive to air currents and seems to read maybe 5% higher on humidity than the AcuRite combo one that I have. I had to return my original Flukers because it would jump around in temp, up two degrees, down two degrees, instantly, so there was a bad batch of those. Be sure when you handle it, you dont flex the casing because that messes with the electronics inside. My current one is okay, but I cant use it in my homemade bator with the lightbulb heat source because it's too sensitive to the on/off of the bulb. Just info for you, in case that's the one you have. That one may do better in the still air bator where there is no air blowing around-just a hunch.

 

[Harley's girl]

I got three of them in a lot on e-bay.
So do you think that I should just continue to read the digital thermometer that I already had?

 

[speckledhen]

That's hard to say without being there. How close in temp are they reading?

 

[Harley's girl]

the digi that I have in the still air has a probe, I have it half way down the side of the egg. It is reading 100.2 the fluckers is on the bottom of the bator is reading 96.1 humidity is reading 48%
the other digi in the forced air is reading 99.9 and the fluckers is reading 98.6 the humidity is at 65%
I have it half way down the side of the eggs too. In the still air I have 11 eggs and in the other I have 56.