THE Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco Thread; Hatches, etc. (PICS)

[silkiecuddles]

Humidity is 14% outside right now. Temperature is 65°ish. I turned the humidifier off, but then the incubator dropped gradually to 40%, so I turned it back on low. Humidity is currently 50% 1 1/2 hours later.

You are definitely going to have to supplement humidity. If you do it with the humidifier try to maintain constant humidity in the room. If it goes up and down in the room the temperature in the incubator could fluctuate. Keep an eye on it.

Ok thanks for all your help. The humidity this morning was 30% even with the humidifier on low all night. This morning I put it back on high and it has gone up to 40%.
Can I just put peices of craft felt in the water channel/s?

 

[jonsccm]

Ok thanks for all your help. The humidity this morning was 30% even with the humidifier on low all night. This morning I put it back on high and it has gone up to 40%.
Can I just put peices of craft felt in the water channel/s?

Yes just after your hatch take the shell apart and clean it but that is what you should do if nothing else works

 

[silkiecuddles]

Last night I put felt in one of the channels. The humidity was 45% this morning, day 2. I turned off the humidifier to let it cool down while I fed the chickens. When I came back in to fill it, the humidity in the incubator was 38%. I filled the humidifier and put it on high. What is the cause of the humidity being so low in the incubator? I'm not at a high altitude. The weather channel claims it's 52% humidity outside. (It doesn't feel like it.) will the rain this week help boost the humidity inside?

 

[dretd]

Last night I put felt in one of the channels. The humidity was 45% this morning, day 2. I turned off the humidifier to let it cool down while I fed the chickens. When I came back in to fill it, the humidity in the incubator was 38%. I filled the humidifier and put it on high. What is the cause of the humidity being so low in the incubator? I'm not at a high altitude. The weather channel claims it's 52% humidity outside. (It doesn't feel like it.) will the rain this week help boost the humidity inside?

Did you get a chance to calibrate your hygrometer prior to getting your readings? I have one that says it is 45% when it is really 75% using the salt method. So very, very far off. It will say that it is 16% humidity when its really 45%. I am thinking that your humidity is fine bit your instrument is mis-reading.

Quite a few people prefer to do a dry hatch for chicken eggs to make sure there is adequate moisture loss during the incubation--this is where you only add water at lockdown. I actually weigh my eggs when I set them and then re-weigh at day 7 or 10 and see if I am on track for losing 13-16% weight by lockdown. This moisture loss is important so the air cell is large enough for the chicks to pip internally. We are so dry where I do a semi-dry hatch--adding a small amount of water every few days to achieve my goal. I have had eggs hatch that have lost over 20% moisture at lockdown.

 

[silkiecuddles]

Last night I put felt in one of the channels. The humidity was 45% this morning, day 2. I turned off the humidifier to let it cool down while I fed the chickens. When I came back in to fill it, the humidity in the incubator was 38%. I filled the humidifier and put it on high. What is the cause of the humidity being so low in the incubator? I'm not at a high altitude. The weather channel claims it's 52% humidity outside. (It doesn't feel like it.) will the rain this week help boost the humidity inside?

Did you get a chance to calibrate your hygrometer prior to getting your readings? I have one that says it is 45% when it is really 75% using the salt method. So very, very far off. It will say that it is 16% humidity when its really 45%. I am thinking that your humidity is fine bit your instrument is mis-reading.

Quite a few people prefer to do a dry hatch for chicken eggs to make sure there is adequate moisture loss during the incubation--this is where you only add water at lockdown. I actually weigh my eggs when I set them and then re-weigh at day 7 or 10 and see if I am on track for losing 13-16% weight by lockdown. This moisture loss is important so the air cell is large enough for the chicks to pip internally. We are so dry where I do a semi-dry hatch--adding a small amount of water every few days to achieve my goal. I have had eggs hatch that have lost over 20% moisture at lockdown.

I'm sorry, but you're going to have to say that again translated for dummies. my incubator has two water channels. I have a dozen duck eggs in there, laid out evenly. Here's a link to the thermometer I have. It's a cheapie, but I can't really afford to spend $40-$50 on one. Someone said in the reviews they used it for incubating eggs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004PBB1JE

Thanks for everyone's help on this!

 

[jonsccm]

That is the one I use in mine because you can Velcro it to the inside. Take it outside, if the weather man said that it is around 50% and you get a reading much lower that may be your problem

 

[scflock]

I'm sorry, but you're going to have to say that again translated for dummies. my incubator has two water channels. I have a dozen duck eggs in there, laid out evenly. Here's a link to the thermometer I have. It's a cheapie, but I can't really afford to spend $40-$50 on one. Someone said in the reviews they used it for incubating eggs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004PBB1JE

Thanks for everyone's help on this!

Where in NC are you? I'm in upstate SC, and I wouldn't think our humidities are that far apart. I have to fill both channels just to get to 40% humidity, especially in the winter when the heater is running. At lockdown, I have to add a paper towel to the bottom and close the vent 2/3 shut just to get to 65%. I don't know what humidity you are shooting for with the duck eggs, but the paper towel trick would give you a more constant interior humidity than trying to raise the ambient humidity in the room. I take a full size paper towel, drape it through both channels and all across the floor, without covering the air holes in the corners. Let the paper towel wick up the water, then refill your channels to 3/4 full, so they don't overflow when tilting the octagon. This will give you much more surface area for interior humidity, and you should be able to fine tune it with the air vent. If I am using the paper towel, a fully open air vent results in about 50-55% humidity

 

[silkiecuddles]

Quote:
I'm in Western North Carolina, scflock. The humidity is 45% outside right now.
I moved the incubator to a bigger room adjoining the room it was in. I put a piece of felt letting it drape into both channels. I'll replace it with paper towels tonight. Do you leave the towels in? The vent is 2/3 shut.
For duck eggs the Brinsea instructions suggest 45%-55%. It's currently at 45%, maybe slightly lower.

jonsccm, I opened the incubator this morning and don't want to open it too soon so I'll check the thermometer tonight outside.

 

[Texas4T]

Where in NC are you? I'm in upstate SC, and I wouldn't think our humidities are that far apart. I have to fill both channels just to get to 40% humidity, especially in the winter when the heater is running. At lockdown, I have to add a paper towel to the bottom and close the vent 2/3 shut just to get to 65%. I don't know what humidity you are shooting for with the duck eggs, but the paper towel trick would give you a more constant interior humidity than trying to raise the ambient humidity in the room. I take a full size paper towel, drape it through both channels and all across the floor, without covering the air holes in the corners. Let the paper towel wick up the water, then refill your channels to 3/4 full, so they don't overflow when tilting the octagon. This will give you much more surface area for interior humidity, and you should be able to fine tune it with the air vent. If I am using the paper towel, a fully open air vent results in about 50-55% humidity

I'm sorry, but you're going to have to say that again translated for dummies. my incubator has two water channels. I have a dozen duck eggs in there, laid out evenly. Here's a link to the thermometer I have. It's a cheapie, but I can't really afford to spend $40-$50 on one. Someone said in the reviews they used it for incubating eggs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004PBB1JE

Thanks for everyone's help on this!

I just hatched out 21 ducklings in mine. I cut cheep plain ocello sponges in half, they have wavy edges, and put them in the channels with wavy side up. It seems like I can get more water in there. I open the vent only half way (Brinsea 20 eco octagon, auto turner). I used a separate hatcher, a Little Giant foam incubator, about $30, when I transferred the eggs to that 3 days before day 28, I filled all channels in the hatcher and put a 3cup bowl of water in the corner to get humidity up, as read on my Petco hygrometer ($3) to 70-80% for the hatch. 21 live hatch, no helping, out of 24 eggs(one was clear at 12 days, one dark at 14, the other looks like late stage death). I wiped off dirty eggs with 100degree tap water and microfiber towel befor setting. Eggs were only max 8 days old at set.
I hope some of this helps you with your hatch.

 

[scflock]

I'm in Western North Carolina, scflock. The humidity is 45% outside right now. 
I moved the incubator to a bigger room adjoining the room it was in. I put a piece of felt letting it drape into both channels. I'll replace it with paper towels tonight. Do you leave the towels in? The vent is 2/3 shut.
For duck eggs the Brinsea instructions suggest 45%-55%. It's currently at 45%, maybe slightly lower.

jonsccm, I opened the incubator this morning and don't want to open it too soon so I'll check the thermometer tonight outside. 

I leave my towel in, but I'm only doing it for the 3 or 4 days of lockdown. I don't know how the towel would hold up for the full 4 weeks. It may be fine, but I haven't tried it. The felt will be doing the same thing, so if the felt is wet, I wouldn't change it for the paper towel. Humidity is raised by surface area, not depth of water, so what you are doing should have the same effect if the felt wicks the water. My outdoor humidity is the same, but will be much lower in the incubator without adding water. That's why it's called relative humidity. The same amount of moisture in the air will be a lower relative humidity at higher temperatures