trouble controlling humidity

[bvdave]

hello, I have been hatching eggs since the spring, however I have had some trouble with the most recent hatches, I am fairly confident the trouble is humidity, we live in a very humid area and I have trouble getting it below 60, some days it jumps to 65 or higher, it goes down somewhat when I turn on the AC but I cant leave it on all day every day or I will need a second mortgage to pay my power bills.

my last hatch I had only 25% success rate, now I have a hatch that should have started this morning and out of 42 eggs I have no pips always put the eggs in Monday around noon and they go into lock down the Friday before hatch, I usually have pips starting Sunday morning and at least 1-2 hatch Sunday and lots of pips when I wake up on monday hatching day.. currently its 133pm Monday (hatching day) and not a single pip.. its also been insanely humid the past 2 weeks


does anyone have any advice to keep humidity down in the humid summer? ive tried putting rice in the bottom of the incubator (maybe I need to add way more? I have about half a cup.. debating putting 2-3 full cups next time..) any other ideas or tips anyone has to keep it down?

I also add no water whatsoever since its so humid already.

 

[sourland]

Have you tried running a dehumidifier in the room where you keep your incubator?

 

[bvdave]

ive been looking for one whenever ive been out the past few weeks, but they all seem to be large very expencive units that I just cant justify (plus the huge power requirements for large power sucking units) unfortunately I live in rural Ontario, so I pay 20 - 30 cents per KWh so power is a huge cost for me. if I can find a smaller more efficient model for a small room then I would go for it. but they seem to be harder to find then they were even a year or two ago

what I have started doing is building a small "nursery" room in my barn, its about 35 square feet and will be fully insulated and used for the incubator and a brooder for new chicks,. so if I can find a small de humidifier to run in there I will do that, but most of the ones I find seem to be for a whole house or really large rooms etc (last time our shopping the cheapest one I could find was still over $150)