Please help with incubation humidity

[Egghead_Jr]

Salt test is easy to do.

Zip lock bag, milk or soda cap and some salt is all you need.

Put salt in the cap, add drops of water until it's saturated like wet sand. No standing water, pour off any if you went too far. Put the cap of salt and hygrometer into a bag and zip it closed. Allow for a small pillow of air and keep it on your kitchen counter. Wait at least 4 hours and check the hygrometer reading.

It should read 75% RH. However high or low it is from 75 is what you adjust for any future readings. Let's say it reads 67% RH then you'd always add 8 to any future readings for true RH.

I'm not sure why you are trying to raise the humidity so high during incubation though. You should incubate lower RH and hatch higher RH. There are some that keep 50 the entire time but most of us are around 35% until last few days then up to around 70%. Varies from who you ask. A big problem is many incubator instructions say to incubate 65% and that's far too high for entire 21 days. Eggs will not dry out enough to develop a good air cell. Chicks drown if there is no air cell developed in egg by the time they internally pip.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Hold on- are you adjusting temperature to get your humidity readings correct? You could easily end up chasing your tail that way, and your temps will be all over the place.

Adjust and calibrate temperature first, before worrying about humidity. Temp is more important to eggs. You can take out your hygrometer and salt-test it while you regulate temperature. Then with a calibrated hygro (or one that has an understood error) adjust humidity by varying the amount of water that can evaporate (surface area) and/or regulating the vent(s) on your incubator. If the reservoirs in your ‘bator are too much, try a shot glass or a small bowl of water and go from there.

Not trying to regulate the temp to humidity, just trying to get the temp up to 99.5. My bator says 101, the hygro says 98.5. The humidity is now up to close enough 49.6. I don’t know why this thing is not working with the temp, my husband told me to go buy a new ‘bator

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Salt test is easy to do.

Zip lock bag, milk or soda cap and some salt is all you need.

Put salt in the cap, add drops of water until it's saturated like wet sand. No standing water, pour off any if you went too far. Put the cap of salt and hygrometer into a bag and zip it closed. Allow for a small pillow of air and keep it on your kitchen counter. Wait at least 4 hours and check the hygrometer reading.

It should read 75% RH. However high or low it is from 75 is what you adjust for any future readings. Let's say it reads 67% RH then you'd always add 8 to any future readings for true RH.

I'm not sure why you are trying to raise the humidity so high during incubation though. You should incubate lower RH and hatch higher RH. There are some that keep 50 the entire time but most of us are around 35% until last few days then up to around 70%. Varies from who you ask. A big problem is many incubator instructions say to incubate 65% and that's far too high for entire 21 days. Eggs will not dry out enough to develop a good air cell. Chicks drown if there is no air cell developed in egg by the time they internally pip.

Thank you for this instructions, I was just googling that. I’ve only ever had the humidity set at 50% during my hatches, but I will drop down and see how that works. It had spiked up over 60% yesterday because I had filled up the reservoir, so I did the old rice in a sock trick and it brought it down to 49%. My eggs are over here twiddling their thumbs wondering what the delay is

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Salt test is easy to do.

Zip lock bag, milk or soda cap and some salt is all you need.

Put salt in the cap, add drops of water until it's saturated like wet sand. No standing water, pour off any if you went too far. Put the cap of salt and hygrometer into a bag and zip it closed. Allow for a small pillow of air and keep it on your kitchen counter. Wait at least 4 hours and check the hygrometer reading.

It should read 75% RH. However high or low it is from 75 is what you adjust for any future readings. Let's say it reads 67% RH then you'd always add 8 to any future readings for true RH.

I'm not sure why you are trying to raise the humidity so high during incubation though. You should incubate lower RH and hatch higher RH. There are some that keep 50 the entire time but most of us are around 35% until last few days then up to around 70%. Varies from who you ask. A big problem is many incubator instructions say to incubate 65% and that's far too high for entire 21 days. Eggs will not dry out enough to develop a good air cell. Chicks drown if there is no air cell developed in egg by the time they internally pip.

Also, do you mind telling me how old can the eggs be to incubate? I’ve read 10 days, 7 days. I ask because I’m only getting maybe a couple fertilized eggs to play with a day, I’ve got a couple I collected 12/31. Thank you

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I've not seen any significant decline in hatch rate to two weeks old. Any problems can be attributed to the difference in age not age itself. Storage of eggs in a cool, higher humidity basement will keep the air cells from growing so all ages of eggs are nearly the same condition, rate of cell growth, at the start of incubation.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

I've not seen any significant decline in hatch rate to two weeks old. Any problems can be attributed to the difference in age not age itself. Storage of eggs in a cool, higher humidity basement will keep the air cells from growing so all ages of eggs are nearly the same condition, rate of cell growth, at the start of incubation.

That makes sense, thank you

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Temperature swings in an incubator. The thermostat has a high and low limit. At the low limit the element turns on and at the high element turns off. Some thermometers are not sensitive and read fairly constant the entire time. Others will show the temp differences. Then there is always the issue of which thermometer do you trust? Sensitive thermometers can have you chasing ghosts.

What I do is use an oral thermometer and take the reading down through a vent hole when the element turns off and again when the heating element turns on. Average those two numbers. This I trust absolutely and use that to calibrate the thermometer on the hygrometer. That way I'm not pulling hair out wondering what is what.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Temperature swings in an incubator. The thermostat has a high and low limit. At the low limit the element turns on and at the high element turns off. Some thermometers are not sensitive and read fairly constant the entire time. Others will show the temp differences. Then there is always the issue of which thermometer do you trust? Sensitive thermometers can have you chasing ghosts.

What I do is use an oral thermometer and take the reading down through a vent hole when the element turns off and again when the heating element turns on. Average those two numbers. This I trust absolutely and use that to calibrate the thermometer on the hygrometer. That way I'm not pulling hair out wondering what is what.

Great - thank you so much! Not sure if you would know anything about this, but will you please look at my thread I just posted about a lump on my cockerels throat? I attached pictures, but I’m not sure it’s as simple as the only one response I have gotten. Thank you again

 

[gimmie birdies]

I don't trust digital. It always reads low. I have a thermom that reads heat and humidity. With the "needle pointer" I trust that more. My humidity is always about 50% with out adding water. in my foam incubators. I don't add any water until day 18 or so when the egg looks like it had a draw down and is fully dark in the pointed end.

Below is a day 18 egg but not ready to lockdown because it is showing light/veins under the air cell.

Below is a egg that is day 18 and ready for lockdown, slope, and dark under the air cell.

 

[stephanadams_]

it's the surface area. Your current humidity is fine for incubation. You don't want to incubate high, it's when hatching you raise it. You've plenty of time to figure out what it will take to raise it some for hatch.

I have been trying to set eggs for the last 24 hours and cannot get the humidity set to save my life. I’m in the desert and our humidity is already low, but I can’t get this humidity past 45 unless I fill the reservoir, then it hits 60+ (nurture right 360). I had an issue with this on my last hatch, so I bought the hygrometer, and of course my incubator is off. Incubator says temp 101 and humidity 46, but hygrometer says 99.8 and 45.3. My temp can only be adjusted by .5 degrees, so I end up higher than 99.5 or lower, but never spot on. What the heck? Please help - thanks!