Venting & Humidity? First time incubating...

[FernbergFarms]

Hey! So this is my first time hatching ducks. I’ve actually never hatched anything. I have a hova Bator (it is old ) and I was wondering what I should do with vents in the incubator.. should I open them..? They are the red holes.

And then I didn’t have a humidity gage so I went to our hardware store and just bought one that would be used for weather but I was hoping this would work. I only put one cup of water in there and it reads 70%... like some people were putting 2 cups in their incubator! What should I do? I started my incubator yesterday and had it running all night but the temperature says it’s 84 so I turned it up so hopefully it gets hotter. Is the temperature gage I have gonna be inaccurate bc it’s for weather? What would it do for the egg if the humidity was too high?

The temperature was in the 80s this morning and humidity was like 70%

the red wholes are the vents. Will this make it loose heat? What should I do?

 

[FernbergFarms]

The incubator feels very warm and I put a different humidity gage in there and it went up in the 60s right away

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I always hatch with the vents open as eggs are porous and need to breathe. I would recommend an analog thermometer and hygrometer instead of digital. They are much more accurate and can be calibrated. In regards to the humidity and water levels, it will honestly depend on where you live. If it's humid in the room where you are hatching then that will affect the humidity levels of your incubator and the same goes for external temperature. For example, I live in zone 7b which gets quite humid as it warms up so if I am hatching in say December/January I will add small amounts of water to maintain humidity, but if I am hatching anytime after that I dry incubate/hatch because the humidity is normally at least 50-60% that time of year which my incubator maintains and adding water increases the humidity too much.

 

[FernbergFarms]

Ok so I have these

So these will work better?
What should the humidity be at for ducks?
I live in Northern Minnesota so right about now it’s getting cold and dry but our humidity is at 50% . It’s okay to have the incubator in a cold room as long as the incubator is warm right? The other thermometer (in the picture I just sent) shows the incubator at in the 90s and the digital shows the 80s so trust the non digital? The non digital one is also older.

 

[FernbergFarms]

Sorry @AstroDuck the pictures are a big foggy

 

[FernbergFarms]

The non digital thermometer and humidity gage are saying 63% humidity and 91 F degrees can I put my eggs in or in the temp too low or the humidity too high? My thermostat thing on my incubator isn’t turning any hotter.. maybe it’s still just heating up.?

 

[FernbergFarms]

Will the vents let in too much cold air? Sorry i have soo many Questions !! I want to do this right.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Will the vents let in too much cold air? Sorry i have soo many Questions !! I want to do this right.

Yes those will be much more accurate. I attached two links below for calibration instructions for both the hygrometer and thermometer to ensure the closest accuracy. Once calibrated they will be extremely accurate. As far as the room goes it's generally recommended to incubate in a room that maintains a temperature of around 70 degrees. Your incubators ability to maintain the proper temperature will come down to the quality of your incubator. Some are able to maintain perfect internal temperatures in slightly colder rooms while others do need to be in a warm room to maintain temperature. I have never used a hova bator so I'm not sure how many vents it has, but I would at the very least always keep one vent open for air. I also attached a GQF's hatching chart which many people have success with. I like to keep my temperature between 99.5-100 and the humidity at 45-50%, but some people prefer lower or higher numbers particularly when it comes to the humidity. As you incubate more you will find what exact temperature and humidity works best for your incubator. If your house is maintaining 50% humidity you more than likely will be able to incubate dry and then add water at the end for hatching. I would still recommend checking the humidity levels daily in case you need to add a little water. The last batch of eggs that I incubated the humidity where I live would be 30% one day and 70% humidity the next which resulted in some days incubating dry while others I had to add water. Hopefully that helps and just know that everyone gets a little anxious especially with the first hatch. Feel free to ask more questions if needed and happy hatching!

https://www.famous-smoke.com/cigaradvisor/how-do-you-calibrate-a-hygrometer

https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-calibrate-a-thermometer-step-by-step-article

 

[FernbergFarms]

@AstroDuck thank you!!! I am trying to incubate in a 30 degree room. But that’s too cold for the incubator? Right now the humidity is around 60 and temp is 93 I would like to put my eggs in today but I would like to get a normal temp so that this is successful. I am only hatching 3 so will I need to adjust the temp at all?
Thanks again!!

 

[Nigel27]

Will the vents let in too much cold air? Sorry i have soo many Questions !! I want to do this right.

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