lowering humidity in cooler incubator

[kristinn]

Ok, so I made this forced air cooler incubator a couple days ago and im having trouble getting the humidity to 50%. With the bowl pictured, my humidity was at 80%, so i did some research, and read that I can lower humidity by reducing surface area of water. So I downsized to a shot glass, and it dropped to 60%. I dont want to drill any more holes in there because my temp has been dead on 99.5° since I set it up, so is there anything else I can do to reduce surface area (I dont have any smaller glasses lol) Can I cover part of the glass with saran wrap? Or put a watter bottle with a small opening in there? Or does the opening have nothing at all to do with the surface area in the container? TIA

 

[lazy gardener]

How much do you have in the way of ventilation holes? Do you have a thermostat? You might want to run your test with a volume of liquid to = the volume of the eggs you intend to incubate. I use 16 oz. water bottles. It will also help to stabilize your temps. What works for me is to use a small cup with a piece of sponge that is about 1" wide and 3" long. I then run a piece of aquarium tubing, attached to a syringe down through a hole in the side of the incubator and into the cup. I add about 10 - 15cc of warm water when ever the humidity drops too low. My goal is 25% for the first 18 days. Of course, I may need to vary this depending on air cell size between days 10 - 14. When it's time to increase humidity for hatch, it's easy to just add more sponge, or drop wet paper towels in as needed. If you use a bowl, be sure the chicks can't get into it when they hatch. They're amazingly agile. I keep my sponge cup wired to the partition between the electronic and the hatching side.

 

[kristinn]

No thermostat, but I havent had any change in temp for 3 days now. I have about 15 holes in the lid and 4 on the sides (I could only find a 1/4" drill bit, thats why theres so many) I think i'm going to switch to a water bottle or 2 and see if that helps bring the humidity down, plus I can fasten them to the side so the chicks cant drown.

I've been reading on here you want your temp at 45-50% for the first 18 days, then 65% for the last 3.. are you doing a dry hatch? I haven't looked up much on that. Do you find it to have a higher hatch %?

 

[kristinn]

I like your syringe and tube idea for the water btw!

 

[Fred's Hens]

I just use a super long straw, the giant long kind for those drinks at 7-11 or other quick stop places. I feed that straw tube down one of my regular vent holes in the top. I also use a small cut piece of sponge down there as the target area for the straw. I use an eye dropper to squirt water down the straw and down onto the sponge. No opening the lid is necessary.

I also dry incubate, keeping the humidity below 30% for the first 19 days. Then, I raise it to 60% in time for the pipping.

BTW, having an extra vent hole is a good thing. I just keep unused vents plugged with those soft ear plugs I buy in a box of a dozen, for when I'm running my chainsaw or operating loud equipment. BUT… sometimes, chicks a lot of oxygen, especially after day 10. Be sure there' enough oxygen intake and exhaust. Enjoy.

 

[lazy gardener]

I agree with Fred. It's very easy to increase the humidity when you use a sponge. all of those little holes in the sponge = a huge amount of surface area. Those little chickies need all the oxygen they can get, so ventilation holes are wonderful. IMO, plugging a hole to raise humidity is counterproductive. Also, I think the dry hatch is the way to go. A lot of people are having much better hatches, and if my browsing the threads is not mistaken, folks are going much dryer than the originator of the method was. Type dry hatch in the search bar, and you'll find all kinds of information to get you started. Kristin, I'd recommend that you get some capped water bottles in there to simulate a filled incubator, and get that stable. Then you can remove as many bottles as necessary to make room for the eggs. If you have extra room, leave some bottles for heat sinks. Some people use ceramic tile or rocks for the same purpose.

 

[kristinn]

GREAT idea Gardener! Thank you so much for the responses!

 

[kristinn]

I added more holes in the side and removed the water completely, and the humidity has stayed at 45% for the last 5 hours, temp never changed. I added the water bottles as you suggested and will see if there is any changes by tomorrow.

 

[lazy gardener]

All the extra time you put into the process now will decrease the amount of time you have to fudge with it when the eggs go in!

 

[Fred's Hens]

All the extra time you put into the process now will decrease the amount of time you have to fudge with it when the eggs go in!

So agree!!!

It is foolishness to pop rare, precious or expensive eggs into an untested incubator. Sure, it takes days and days of fussing with these home made incubators sometimes, to dial them in, but just taking the average foam incubator off the shelf of a feed store or pet store and not testing it? Reckless and potentially heartbreaking.

Test those 'Bators folks!! Use water bottles as a bio-mass understudy for the eggs and test them for a few days before you ever put your precious eggs into them.