Incubator Woes!

[valreegrl]

I am trying to get my LG Still Air incubator up to proper conditions and running into a snag....even after reading all the other posts on the subject

My temp is staying steady at 101.1 at the top of the egg (or where the top would be as the eggs are not in yet) and I have a temp/hrydrometer also resting
on the grate. That is ready 99.9 degrees but the humidity is only at 34%.

Question....how to I get the humidity up? I started with just two of the wells with warm water, and now I just added the third with water hoping that will help. I have one plug out and one in. Should I keep both plugs in or both out?

Also....is the flux in temp that much between the grate and where the top of the egg would be?

Any help would be awesome! This is my first and am having a slight freak out here

 

[valreegrl]

Anyone? Temp keeping steady but humidity still only 37%. All trays are full. Should I pull the other plug?

 

[organiceggs]

Is there a reason why you are removing the one plug? I thought the plugs were only to be removed at hatch time.

 

[Bluemoon420]

Depends on what method your using for hatching. I keep both my plugs out during incubation, but I use the dry hatch method. Humidity kind of depends on where you live and other variables. 37 % may be ok. I keep mine between 30/35 % during the first 18 days. I let dry down to 10 percent before adding water. During hatch it's between 60/65%. Then I use the plugs if I have to raise or lower humidity during hatch. It will raise a little while the chicks are hatching, so then I just watch the windows. If they fog up I remove the plugs, etc.

I don't have a LG though. Use a hovabator. You might be ok though. You can keep an eye on the aircells, and if they get too big too early add more water. Mine was all trial and error, but I've got it down now.

Bluemoon

 

[valreegrl]

Should I keep both plugs in? The instructions said to remove one until day 18 then pull the other.
I have water added to the reservoirs so not dry hatching.

I am going to plug them both up and see what happens. The humidity has been staying steady at 37% so maybe that is the key to get it up.

 

[Bluemoon420]

I haven't used an LG so I'm sure how it differs from mine. My incubator says to only fill on trough during incubation, and both troughs during hatch. Hopefully someone with an LG can chime in

Bluemoon

 

[jlgoinggreen]

Hi,
I also have an LG. Mine is a 9200 (although I'm not sure if there is more than one model). I had the same problem when I started. I set mine up three days before my eggs were due to arrive. By day two I had it steady where I wanted it (100 F & 34% humidity). Once the eggs went in it went crazy. Mostly going into the 80's and staying there. At one point it even shot up to 104 for a few minutes! I was told to leave it alone (not to touch the dial at all as it is VERY sensitive). I did this and it eventually returned to 100 F & 34% humidity (where it is right now on day 3 of my incubation...ie after eggs went in).

I know this isn't much help, but just wanted you to know there is someone out here having the same problems, questions and concerns you are.

Good luck on your hatch!

 

[panner123]

When you first start up the bator, put some type of mass in it. I use little bags of sand. Doing this the temp will not drop as much when you place the eggs in it. When the eggs go in, DO NOT TOUCH THE BATOR FOR A DAY. The temp will go down at first, then go up DO NOT TOUCH IT, after the day is up if it is off a little just tweak it. Remmember this thing is touchy, a little goes a LONG WAY. If you can keep the humidity at 34% for the first 18 days you will do just fine. Then on day 18 place a damp face cloth in the bator, this will bring your humidity up. Try to keep the humidity at 60% for the last 3 days. One thing I keep forgetting to tell people, place the bator up by putting it on 2 pieces of 1" x 1" of wood. There are little vent holes on the bottom that get blocked up and don't work if this is not done. The temp and humidity can be adjusted by the placement of the vent plugs on the top. Start with both full open, if anything drops, close 1, still drops place the other 1 upside down over the other hole. This should cause it to go up, slide the plug ove a little until it settles out. Use the plugs to control the temp and humidity more than the little adjustments to the knob. Touchy and a pain in the butt, but if done properly, you can have very good hacth rates with it.

 

[organiceggs]

I have read that it is approximately 55% relative humidity under a broody hen, so I keep mine around that percentage and go up to around 70-75% during hatch. I found that if the humidity drops, the egg membranes dry out and less chicks are able to hatch easily. I have never tried the dry method, so this leads me to believe that consistency is also a key factor. Your temperature seems to be fine for a still-air incubator. The temperature needs to be about 101-102 on top of the eggs. As for humidity, I would place the plug back in and see if it raises it a bit more, which it should, but you will need to figure out how to increase the humidity even more in the last 2-3 days of incubation in either case. Just my thoughts...

 

[katharinad]

Quote:
Are you running your test with plastic eggs? You see the air volume will be less when eggs are in the machine. This will raise the humidity. Just put some empty closed water bottles into the machine you will see that the humidity will come up.
Katharina