Incubator help

Xlcandylx

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I need to learn about my incubator.... It shows the temperature and humidity.... I don't know how to turn up anything on it.... Please it didn't come up with instructions for it so im hoping someone has one like mine where they can explain it better. It does have automatic egg turner. Thanks for the help
IMG_20171005_111038.jpg
 
Now next step.... I placed the water where it goes but the humidity isn't really going up. I placed a paper towel in there and it jumped it passed 50% but when I added the water it's only siting at 35%.... O_o did I place too much water or will I have to wait a couple of days?... Sorry for all the questions I just don't want to make another mistake.
 
Now next step.... I placed the water where it goes but the humidity isn't really going up. I placed a paper towel in there and it jumped it passed 50% but when I added the water it's only siting at 35%.... o_O did I place too much water or will I have to wait a couple of days?... Sorry for all the questions I just don't want to make another mistake.
I think 35% is OK. Here is a link to lots of info on the Brinsea site: https://www.brinsea.com/Brochures/BrinseaIncubationHandbook2016.pdf
Look at page 8 for a drawing of an incubator like yours. It shows 35% humidity at the top.
 
Humidity is a trial and error kind of thing.
It has some to do with the relative humidity in the air as well as the humidity levels in your house, some to do with the kind of eggs you are hatching.
I live at a fairly low altitude and just hatched out my third batch so I am fairly new to all this stuff.
This time around I incubated at a higher humidity (around 42%) for the first 2 - 2.5 weeks then lowered the humidity to about 35 - 38% for the next 5ish days to increase the air cells and had a much higher hatch rate. 16 out of 21 hatched, 5 died in their shells sometime during lockdown.
I also locked down at a minimum of 75%.

Now keep in mind that these are Guineas which have a REALLY hard shell, I have dropped a guinea egg on the ground and not cracked the shell, I think for chickens you would try running it at about 35 - 38% during incubation and 65 - 75% during lockdown.
Maybe someone with more experience will come on here and give some better pointers.
This is just my humble opinion. Hope it helps
 
Also I forgot to mention:
Humidity is adjusted by surface size not depth.
If you find that you are 2-5% low don't add more to the bottom tray find a small container and fill it with water and sit it in there. I use a pill bottle the opening is small enough that I can raise and lower the humidity by about 5% by placing it in or removing it.
It's also a lot easier to remove a container of water than to remove the turner, take out the bottom tray, empty it, dry it and then replace every thing. I don't put water in the bottom tray until lockdown, I control humidity by containers of water placed inside the bator. Just make sure at hatch time the babies can't fly into the containers and drown (its never happened to me but I suppose it could)
Also: allow the incubator a couple of hours between each adjustment to even out and give an accurate reading.
 
How do you increase the humidity level and keep it at that one point? I know I can put a damp paper towel inside it and it brings it up. Would I have to keep doing that when they get closer to coming out because I know that the humidity has to be increased when it gets closer to hatching.
 

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