Opposing humidity instructions-not sure which to follow?

[Pearce Pastures]

We are incubating for the first time and have been playing with the temp and humidity in our new Farm Innovator circulated air incubator. We have them temp good, but removed ALL water frm the reseviors (THE DIRECTIONS CALLED FOR ADDING WATER) because the humidty on the dial read 70%. It is now at 40% without water and temp is holding at 99.5

So the question: The incubator directions state "The Hygrometer should show relative humidity of approximately 55-60% during incubation" but everywhere else I am reading that that is too high.

How high should relative humidity be? Is RELATIVE humidity different somehow?

 

[AlienChick]

In which room do you have your incubator?
If it's in a humid room, say, like the kitchen where you're boiling water and cooking, then you may not need to add much water to the incubator.
Test the humidity of the room.

I, personally, add water in the beginning on Day One, and then I never add any more water unless the humidity DROPS more than 20-30% (then I add a little more).
On Day 18 I bump the humidity up to as high as I can get it (usually around 65-75%).

 

[Pearce Pastures]

The incubator is in a bedroom, though there is an attached bathroom so the shower and such might add moisture to the air in that room.

Which is more accurate though for ideal humidity-the instruction manual's 55-60% or the 38-42% I keep seeing mentioned other places?

 

[chicken pickin]

The incubator is in a bedroom, though there is an attached bathroom so the shower and such might add moisture to the air in that room.

Which is more accurate though for ideal humidity-the instruction manual's 55-60% or the 38-42% I keep seeing mentioned other places?

Im not sure what is ideal but ive read more the first 18 days somewhere in the 30ish-40ish range and the last 3 days(lockdown) somewhere around 55-65ish range. So that is what Im doing. I set my eggs yesterday morning and my humidity ranges between 42-46%.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Thank you.

 

[chicknlove]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-incubate-hatch-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method

Here's a great little article.
Also you can adjust your humidity acording to how fast or slow your air cells are growing..

 

[SilkieSensation]

It all actually depends on the humidity in the room the bator is in. If humidity in the room is high (basement or bathroom) you can get away with lower humidity in the bator. If it's low (bedroom, livingroom, etc. especially in a room with forced air heat) you will need to keep it quite a bit higher. The best way to tell if your humidity is close to where is needs to be is to monitor the air cells of your eggs. I check mine around 3 days in as a start point & trace the air cells when I candle. I check again around 7 days & do the same and again at 14 & 18 days if I am still worried about it. The air cell should steadily grow to about 1/4 of the inside of the egg by day 18. If you haven't had to add water during incubation you likely won't need to add it for lockdown either as the humidity automatically jumps 10-20% when the chicks begin to pip. If you have had trouble keeping humidity up then you will need to add water for lockdown. Don't depend on the humidity being the same all year round either. Humidity in cooler climates will drop indoors when weather turns cold due to heat being turned on. It will be higher in summer unless it's somewhere like Nevada where everything is extremely dry in summer. You just have to monitor your bator to find out what works best for your particular set-up. It's best to use cheap or free eggs for the first couple hatches until you figure out the particulars for your bator because there WILL be mishaps. That is just part of the learning process.

 

[SilkieSensation]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-incubate-hatch-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method

Here's a great little article.
Also you can adjust your humidity acording to how fast or slow your air cells are growing..

This is what I was talking about. Someone posted while I was typing.

 

[Becci]

Different people with different climates, different incubators and different eggs will all have luck with different humidity%. The entire idea is that the eggs need to loose a certain amount of weight during incubation, approximately 13% from their starting weight to lockdown. If the humidity is higher, they will loose this weight slower. If the humidity is lower, they'll loose it faster. So, some people weigh their eggs before incubation, mark that egg and write down the weight. Subtract the 13% and write that weight down as the goal. They weigh a few times during incubation and adjust the humidity according to the rate of weight loss.

Some people compare the air sacs to charts as mentioned above, and some people just go with what's recommended, hope for the best and adjust accordingly next time. I personally dry incubate and have had the best results by far.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubation-cheat-sheet

Good luck

 

[aoxa]

I don't add anything the first 18 days. It is usually around 20-35% humidity naturally. The last 3 days I keep it as high as possible. I like right around 70%.