Incubator humidity

[chickenlady81]

I have a foam bator and i have about 2-3 tbsp in there and the humidity is at 44%. We have a wood stove and fireplace going so i think that drys out the house alot.
Should I just leave it at 44% or try to add wet sponges to bring it up?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

its a matter of personal choice. some folks will tell you that you are good at 44%. I personally choose to keep mine between 50 and 55% until day 18. I find that bantam eggs need a little more humidity than standard sized. But that is purely my observation and opinion.

 

[chickenlady81]

I have SLW eggs in there. Standard size not bantam. This is my first hatch and i want to have a good sucess rate. Been wanting SLW for a while now

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Keep it at 44%. Don't raise it to 60% until the first pip. I dry incubate all my eggs and I raise mostly bantam cochins. It doesn't matter if it's a standard or a bantam...the proper egg water loss is relative.

 

[klf73]

Quote:
X2

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

I dont agree, but as you can see my points been proven... everyone has their own way of doing things. Its all what works for you.

 

[shelleyd2008]

My incubator humidity usually hovers around 40 -45%, and as you can see by my siggy, I have nothing but bantams. My first 2 hatches had almost 90%, with 40% days 1-18, and about 50% if they went longer than that. I can't get mine to go up higher than that and stay, so that's the reasoning behind mine. Mine do usually hatch a few days early though. There is a great site that shows the size of the air sac at different points. If the air sac is bigger, your humidity is too low, smaller and it's too high.
http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/hatch.htm#cond