Should I buy a dehumidifer, the humidity is above 60%

[ELOISEtheCHICKEN]

I am a first time hatcher, setting eggs tomorrow for the first time. The humidity everywhere in my house is high. I can't get the incubator below 60% Humidity (with no water). Should I buy a dehumidifier for the room with the incubator?

 

[ezbird]

Does your bator have a fan in it? You should do a dry incubation if your humidity is at 60

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Yes. If you can't get the humidity in your bator down to at least 40% for the first 17 days, you need to dehumidify. It is unlikely that the eggs will lose enough moisture and the chicks will drown. Even in dry incubating, you don't want the room humidity above 50%.

 

[deb1]

During a rain storm here my humidity got up to 60% also. I had NO water in the incubator. I desperately pulled the little corks out of my homemade incubator but I couldn't it out of the high 50s.

Its the air here in the south. It is just very, very humid some days.

Today my humidity is back down to 47% Someone suggested that I take out water. Um....I can't take out what isn't in there.

I am just taking a wait and see attitude. My friends chickens hatched eggs outdoors in high heat with high humidity. So, my incubator's humidity isn't higher then outdoors where her hens hatched their eggs. Maybe it will be all right.

I was lucky. My fertile eggs were free and I can get more. Not that I want them to fail!

Next time a dehumidifier will probably be a good investment though.

 

[deb1]

Where are you at Eloise? Maybe we live in the same part of the US. I have found that if I turn my air conditioner on the humidity will drop a bit. Maybe you could try that too.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

We're in Florida and our house a/c went out on Friday...getting fixed today. It was unbelievable in the house this weekend. I have 2 bators going...one is the egg bator and the other is the hatcher. The humidity inside the bators has been running 45-48% with no added water. However, when the a/c is running...which is usually is...the humidity in the bators will usually run between 27 and 30%. I try to dry incubate, so I don't add water unless is goes below 27%...until day 18, then I bring it up to 50-55%.

 

[ELOISEtheCHICKEN]

I live in Mass. I think I will try dry hatching and go find a dehumidifier this morning. I live in a brick house. It keeps cooler in general. Slower to heat up and slower to cool down. But it is very humid regardless.