Incubator humidity

[greathorse]

I just read the post on dry incubating and am relieved. I built a very nice incubator and finally have the temp wired. I have not been able to get my humidity above 34% I thought I needed to be in the range of 50 %. I have been pulling my hair out. (none to pull in reality) I am in Colorado and we have very low humidity here. I have eggs coming tommorrow and need to set them. I guess I will set the eggs and see about building a hatcher that is the correct humidity for the hatch.

I built the incubator out of plywood and it seems like the plywood is just sucking the moisture out of my cabinet.. I did not put a finish on the plywood. I am guessing I should seal it some how? Oh well was planning on building a hatcher anyway.

So my 34 % humidity is ok for the first 18 days?

Thanks

 

[shelleyd2008]

I would think so, but just keep an eye on the air sac, to make sure it doesn't get too big. Here's a link that shows what it is supposed to look like: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/hatch.htm#cond
Have you tried adding sponges to your water pans? I did this, and mine skyrocketed!! I had to take water out to bring it back down some!!

 

[hinkjc]

It really varies if dry incubation will work or not dependent on where you live. I have found it does not work here and 34% spelled disaster every time. When I had difficulty getting my humidity up, I put a humidifier in the room with the incubator to help increase the room humidity, which in turn increased the incubator humidity.

You may also want to check your hygrometer to make sure it is reading accurately. You can compare it to another one or test it. Someon had posted instructions on how to test it, but I can't recall the details. What kind of hygrometer are you using? If it is digital and has a probe, the entire unit must be inside to read the humidity correctly.

Jody

 

[77horses]

That's good I think!

Have you ever tried "dry incubating"? I have heard it works really well, and hatch rate goes up a lot, rather then when you don't do it. Have you ever tried hatching out eggs and most chicks drowned or were really wet when they hatched? This means you have too much humidity.
Dry incubating is when you don't add ANY water! The only time you do is when hum. gets down to 25-30%, and if that happens you add a tiny bit more. During hatching, you rais it to about 50-65%, so the chick won't stick to the shell when hatching.
So, if I were you, i would test dry incubating to see if it works better!

Good luck!

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

34% is fine. Just be sure to do whatever you need to do to get it up to 60% or so at the first pip. Mine runs between 25% and 40% and my hatches are fine.

 

[deerman]

34% maybe ok for chickens, but NOT for waterfowl,Turkey, or Peafowl.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Think your right about sealing the wood.
My GQF are seal, to get the Humidity up I had to add 2nd water pan. the ones that came with the incubator was to small. More area of your water pan should help. Not deeper but wider or longer

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
Jody,

How has this worked out? I tried dry incubation and found that it didn't work for me. I truly believe that bantam eggs need more humidity, but thats just my opinion.

On the last hatch I was able to maintain 50% humidity until day 18, at which point I was able to increase it to 75% or better.

I've got triple the number of eggs in the incubator now and I can't get it to regulate over 50%. Its hovering around 45%.

I was thinking of adding a humidifier in the room but wasn't sure if it worked. How has it worked for you?

 

[hinkjc]

The humidifier helped tremendously, especially with central air which dries up the house in the summer and then in winter with heat making it so dry. I always keep mine around 50% during incubation and try to get them to 65-70 for hatch. When I don't have a humidifier going, my room humidity sits around 20-25, which is not good..even for us humans.

Jody

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

good to know. I am going to give it a try... Thanks!