Rh at 50% despite no water in incubator

[IHT]

hey!

im currently in my 2nd incubating round after putting 13 eggs to hatch and only got 1 successfull hatch with 8 unfertilized eggs 1 embryo early death, 1 death fully formed but didnt pip, and another 1 who looked like a late hatcher but i disposed off all the eggs thinking they were all dead....

so now in my second run i try to lower humidity thinking it was the culprit of the 2 dead chicks i got last run..


but what is surprising is the incubator has no water! and the relative RH stays at 50%......


now i have another incubator that i put to run with no water for hours and reads at 53% so its almost the same in both units....


is it 50% RH normal for no water in the incubator?

 

[Tonyroo]

No, unless you live in a jungle.

You need to use a hygrometer to take accurate measurements of temperature and humidity.

 

[IHT]

No, unless you live in a jungle.

You need to use a hygrometer to take accurate measurements of temperature and humidity.

well i do live in a place that is pretty much a jungle lol... very high in the mountains and theres high humidity here

 

[Tonyroo]

Then it's probably accurate.

 

[Tonyroo]

Ambient humidity and temperature affects a incubator.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Are you using a calibrated hygrometer?
I find my machine says 50 no matter what I do so I go by the ones I set in the bator beside my eggs

 

[IHT]

Are you using a calibrated hygrometer?
I find my machine says 50 no matter what I do so I go by the ones I set in the bator beside my eggs

well for me it goes up alot with adding a little bit of water like a tablespoon amount and it goes up to 62-65% RH so its kind of detecting changes on RH but i will try to get a handy hygrometer this week and see if anything changes because i see everyone adding water to achive 50% rh and im getting that with no water!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

well for me it goes up alot with adding a little bit of water like a tablespoon amount and it goes up to 62-65% RH so its kind of detecting changes on RH but i will try to get a handy hygrometer this week and see if anything changes because i see everyone adding water to achive 50% rh and im getting that with no water!

I have not had a problem with to much humidity but have read using a rice bag can help to keep it lower
You maybe able to find info on this to see how accurate it is
Hopefully you have better luck on this next batch

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Your hygrometers will read the change in RH accurately but it's base line is off. You need to calibrate it to know what the correct base line is.

Quick search salt test hygrometer calibration.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I don't trust digital hydrometers. I dry hatch, it is 50 without adding water, I don't add water until lockdown. I also don't lockdown until egg is dark with a slope in air cell. If it is day 18 and light shines through the slope under the air cell there is too much liquid. See pic below too much light. The point should also be dark.

below is a ready egg all dark under the air cell.