Necessity of hygrometer??

[Red&Yellow]

This is my first hatch ever, so I'd love some advice. Unfotunatly, I didn't think to come on here BEFORE I started incubating (I reallllllly want these chicks!), but hopefully it won't be disasterous!

Okay, so how important, on a scale of one to ten, is a way of checking humidity?? I've got me a borrowed Little Giant still air, and I just keep those slits on the bottom filled with water. It dosen't feel like a sauna, but mildly humid. I stick my finger in there and I can just barely feel moisture (there are small airholes in the top). Do you think this is good? Should I have gotten measuring tool for the humidity? My temperature is very stable 99.5-100 with minimal (evident) fluctuations. Any advice is much appreciated!!!

 

[Mahonri]

Go to Radio Shack or Wal-Mart and buy an inexpensive one. It will give you an idea of where you are at.

An egg needs to lose weight from day 1-18 so that there will be room for the chick to pip and zip.

Day 1-19 35% humidity
lockdown 65%

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I couldn't go without one. Especially for the hatch.

 

[Red&Yellow]

Is it too late to buy one for this hatch? This is day 8.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Mahonri]

It's not too late. Hopefully that haven't drowned in there.

Go get one... or two.

 

[evonne]

i use a LG still air....
i do not have anything to check my humidity....

first note.... on still air you need the temp a tiny bit higher... 101-102.... i keep mine at 101.7
not a big deal that they haven't been there yet, but bump it a tiny bit.. .and i mean bump.. a little.. lol.. the adjustment on them is very touchy... shouldn't even feel like you're moving it...

keeping it at 99.5-100 is fine, you'll just have the hatch a little later... day 22 maybe 23... at 101.7 mine hatch at day 20....

i keep the things in the bottom full during regular incubation, and then i add a few sponges wet with warm water or an old sock with warm water to up the humidity..
the warm water helps to keep from dropping hte temp in the bator.... try to get your water temp just warm to the touch, but not hot....

people talk a lot of $%& about the LG still air, but i've had good luck with it....

hope your hatch goes well.....

 

[Gypsy07]

I just did my first hatch a few weeks ago. I didn't get a hygrometer until day 15. And I got four healthy chicks from 8 fertile eggs. And the four that didn't make it? I think the problem may have been me poking about in there too much due to ridiculous over-excitement, and not anything to do with humidity levels. I've read in a few places that for the first couple of weeks correct humidity is much much less important than getting the temperature right. One of my chicken books doesn't even mention hygrometers at all. It suggests weighing the eggs at the start and then again at 14-15 days to check they are losing an appropriate percentage of their weight. If they have lost too much, add some water and if they haven't lost enough then remove the water for a day or two before lockdown. Also look at the airspace when candling so see if it's increasing the way it should. That's not to say I don't think you should get a hygrometer btw! Just that I think you're maybe worrying too much about it. I'm sure none of your chicks could have drowned already due to high humidity so early on in the incubation. At 8 days the embryo is very small and totally enveloped in the liquidy bit of the egg contents anyway. The high/low humidity thing (as I understand it) gets more important towards the end of the incubation so if you get a hygrometer now you should have plenty of time to check and make any adjustments that are needed. Good luck!

Like I say, I just did my first hatch. Total newbie. If other people tell you something different, I'd say take their advice not mine. LOL!

 

[patandchickens]

If you don't want to buy a hygrometer you have a couple options to get similar information:

-- a wet bulb thermometer (can make your own if you have a spare thermometer the right type, old-style glass ones, just have to buy or make a wick and reservoir, then look up what wet-bulb reading should be, I don't recall off the top of my head);

-- weigh the eggs periodically to make sure they are not losing more nor less than the amount of weight they should be losing (if losing too much, air is too dry, if losing too little air is too humid)

-- compare size of air cells in eggs to those picture charts of what it should look like at different stages, this works best if you sort of mentally average among a bunch of eggs

The main advantage of a hygrometer (mechanical, or wet-bulb thermometer) is that you can get a hint of whether things are likely to be going badly wrong BEFORE the eggs are much affected; whereas if you wait until you see a big discrepancy in weight or air cell size, it is possible that some damage may have already been done. Also weighing and lookin' at air cells requires taking the eggs out of the incubator, which has its own potential hazards.

If you DO buy a hygrometer, for heaven's sake look up one of the threads on how to 'calibrate' it (not really calibration, just estimation of correction factor) using the salt method -- any hygrometer you buy, from cheap to relatively pricey, has a very high chance of being inaccurate, sometimes REALLY inaccurate like off 20% or more. You want to know how its numbers are likely to relate to actual humdiities

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[IggiMom]

I would never hatch eggs without checking humidity. I check at least twice a day and sometimes more.

I have a very good hygrometer. I think it is GQF. I like it a lot. I also have two cheapy ones that I calibrated myself. They are not good, but easy to read at a glance.

If you have a LG I would say you are not drowning your eggs. Depending to some degree on your location.

Catherine

 

[mstricer]

Red&Yellow :

This is my first hatch ever, so I'd love some advice. Unfotunatly, I didn't think to come on here BEFORE I started incubating (I reallllllly want these chicks!), but hopefully it won't be disasterous!

Okay, so how important, on a scale of one to ten, is a way of checking humidity?? I've got me a borrowed Little Giant still air, and I just keep those slits on the bottom filled with water. It dosen't feel like a sauna, but mildly humid. I stick my finger in there and I can just barely feel moisture (there are small airholes in the top). Do you think this is good? Should I have gotten measuring tool for the humidity? My temperature is very stable 99.5-100 with minimal (evident) fluctuations. Any advice is much appreciated!!!

you should get your temp up its too low for a still air. it should be at 102​