OMG...What's the deal with this bator??

[cthrash1]

There must be more humidity in our basement this goaround with my new eggs because I have literally had to pull out the plugs on my bator to get the humidity to go below 40%. And only one trough has water and it's just half full.

Will it hurt my eggs with the plugs out? My temp is staying pretty steady either way.

 

[SterlingAcres]

You could remove the water all together. My redwood bator's running 35-40% humidity with nothing in it.

Pretty humid here lately.

 

[cthrash1]

Will it be safe to pull the eggs out to do that? They've been in one day.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

I have the same problem! Wanted to put my eggs in yesterday but even with no water, it was still in the sixties! Mine are in the basement too and the dehumidifier is cranked. I just now took the lid off, put the eggs in, and am hoping for the best.

Edited to say: it should be ok to pull them out and dump the water. Here's a trick I used last hatch and it worked great: get some plastic aquarium tubing. Poke a hole through the outside of the bator and feed the tubing into the main well. Use a pencil to poke the hole and to flatted the lip of the well so the wire screen lays flat against the bottom. I use a syringe to add and remove water as needed and never have to open the bator until day 18.

 

[klf73]

Everything that I have read says you can safely have them out for a while, especially early on. They just may take a little longer in the end. I would do it quickly (and carefully).

Krista

 

[SterlingAcres]

Yeah, be very careful and do it quickly. I don't have an auto turner, so I open my bator to quickly turn sides... No problems here.

 

[cthrash1]

Okay thanks all, just wanted to be cautious as I lost my last batch due to humidity but that time I was keeping it around 47-50 and the seller said to keep this batch in the 30s. Didn't think I'd have a problem with that but our humidity outside has been awful this week.

Lilralphieroosmama: Thanks for the tube idea sounds like a great idea. Wish I had consulted before I put the eggs in. But will use it next time. This is my last batch for the year other than a stray egg here n there from my flock just to see what they look like. I have a studly BTB Jap cockerel that has "played tag" with just about all the ladys in the coop.

 

[pbjmaker]

Quote:
you could sen some of those eggs my way - I just want a BTB and a mix would be cool

 

[serendipity22]

Lilralphieroosmama: I do that with the aquarium tubing too! It has made putting water in the incubator so much easier. I wish I had done it last year.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Quote:
YES! Isn't it wonderful??!! I had read about that here somewhere and after a pretty unsuccessful button quail hatch, I tried it and have had great luck ever since!