Incubators Anonymous

[TherryChicken]

hatched these babies 2 weeks ago

 

[gimmie birdies]

Yuckks!!!

 

[ozexpat]

Thank You, that means a lot. I have finished my project. I am testing now, as far as controlling the humidity. the STC-1000 PID controller is working great holding temp, I added a water fill line, so I do not have to open the top to add water, the fan and the turner are installed and working great. I may have to add a few more holes to drop humidity, it has been running for 3 hours only, and is at 60%. morning will give me a better idea (8:00pm here) If it stabilizes, I will set eggs on Saturday......did I mention I am a incubating-o-holic?

two comments.

i would buy a "y" for the light socket and use two smaller bulbs incase one blows.

I would look at temps on each corner to make sure that single fan is doing its job. anoher high up on the opposite wall may supplement air flows.

This is a great bator. Really nice finish. Well done

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
the only thing I would suggest, is do away with adding water for the first 18 days of incubation... 60% is good for hatching but I prefer dry incubation, and many others on here would concur to that.

hatched out 4 silver laced cochins yesterday. shipped eggs, only 4 developed, but all 4 hatched within a couple hours of each other.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

the only thing I would suggest, is do away with adding water for the first 18 days of incubation... 60% is good for hatching but I prefer dry incubation, and many others on here would concur to that.

hatched out 4 silver laced cochins yesterday. shipped eggs, only 4 developed, but all 4 hatched within a couple hours of each other.

i think the humidity factor may depend on area of the country.
35% works great for me in my dry climate.

the only thing i would change is figuring out how to keep my genesis over 20 and below 50%
even adding the slightest amount of water kicks it up to like 50-55% then i have to vent it more which i already run it with the plug open.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
I incubate between 10 and 20%... over 20% and I end up with drowned chicks.

 

[roostereggs]

I incubate between 10 and 20%... over 20% and I end up with drowned chicks.

x2

I thought I should raise my humidity because I am in Arizona, but I am pretty sure I had chicks suffocate when my humidity spiked too high during my first hatch. So I am doing a dry hatch this time and I pulled a lot less early quitters on day 10. I'm hoping the biggest difference is not losing so many fully formed, ready to hatch chicks this time. I will update on the 22nd- hatch day.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

I incubate between 10 and 20%...  over 20% and I end up with drowned chicks.

I don't have that issue at all in my R-com if it develops it hatches now the genesis fluxes a ton so maybe I'll try it on that one. Shipped eggs are tougher since you never know how there going to be packaged

 

[sillycmoy]

I just locked down my 2nd attempt to hatch eggs. What is the ideal humidity, I fought with it all last time, and both chicks didn't hatch, now I just added water to the 3 tubes, and added some sponges, because last time I couldn't get it up past 50%. I'm in Utah, so its dry dry dry right now, and I have a LG Still Air. I was told to have it up to 65%, and have the windows be somewhat foggy, I didn't accomplish this last hatch, and I'm getting nervous about this hatch. I have 17 eggs in there, and about 9 have been wiggling, so I don't want to kill these ones. Thanks!

 

[ki4got]

I just locked down my 2nd attempt to hatch eggs. What is the ideal humidity, I fought with it all last time, and both chicks didn't hatch, now I just added water to the 3 tubes, and added some sponges, because last time I couldn't get it up past 50%. I'm in Utah, so its dry dry dry right now, and I have a LG Still Air. I was told to have it up to 65%, and have the windows be somewhat foggy, I didn't accomplish this last hatch, and I'm getting nervous about this hatch. I have 17 eggs in there, and about 9 have been wiggling, so I don't want to kill these ones. Thanks!

if the windows are fogging, your humidity is over 80% and likely TOO high... chicks learning to breathe can't when the air is that 'thick' and usually suffocate. I dare say your hygrometer's off... if you've calibrated it, did you calibrate it at 99 degrees or room temperature? a lot of the digital ones will have a wide variation depending on temperature. the higher the temperature the lower it will read, even tho the humidity is the same. I have a few that read correctly around 70 degrees, but at incubator temps read about 15% lower than it actually is (verified by wet bulb hygrometer). in my incubators, these hygrometers typically read 2-5% humidity and maybe 40% at lockdown. so it's good to have a wet bulb hygrometer so you know FOR SURE and can calibrate your digital ones to it. that is the most reliable way to do it.

I use laboratory grade mercury thermometer to test my digital ones, and the wet bulb mercury thermometer (also verified dry by the other one) to get the truth out of my digital.

running 4 incubators, that was very important to me. so even though each one reads something different, I have the correct #s written on each one so I know what it should SAY, and not go by what it actually reads. each incubator has 2 thermometers and 1 hygrometer. on #1, the thermometers read 38 (Celsius), and 98.5, actual temperature is right at 99.5 and humidity says 5% - actual humidity is about 12%... on #2, both thermometers and the hygrometer are accurate... you get the idea. all incubators have circulated air btw... I have never had good results with still air at all..