Venting & Humidity? First time incubating...

[HollowOfWisps]

@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!!

93 would be a little cold to start. How long has the incubator been running? Some incubators take a couple days to reach temperature. Also I have heard of some people wraping their incubator to help insulate it that might help as long as you were able to safely wrap it.

 

[FernbergFarms]

It’s been about 21 hours running. I just switched it to a warmer room.

 

[FernbergFarms]

Haven’t put my eggs in yet.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Haven’t put my eggs in yet.

I would give it a full 48 hours to adjust before putting the eggs in.

 

[FernbergFarms]

Okay. I took the cover off so some humidity would come out. I put it back on tho and it just rose back to 60 again.. will it even out in time?

 

[TomCahalan]

60% isn't too bad, but you want to aim for 55%. The purpose of pre-lockdown humidity control is to get the air cell to the correct size. If you are off a little at the start you can correct it by going in the other direction.

 

[FernbergFarms]

@TomCahalan what do you mean by going the other direction? I’ve been turning the thermostat down bc it just goes up to 100 & 110 F I’m aiming for 99 , 100. Is this what it should be at? How do I lower the temp? I have vents open but I feel like it doesn’t do anything until I lift the cover. Will this just work itself out? My incubator doesn’t tell me what it’s at the thermometer does and it just lets me turn it up and down.

 

[TomCahalan]

@TomCahalan what do you mean by going the other direction? I’ve been turning the thermostat down bc it just goes up to 100 & 110 F I’m aiming for 99 , 100. Is this what it should be at? How do I lower the temp? I have vents open but I feel like it doesn’t do anything until I lift the cover. Will this just work itself out? My incubator doesn’t tell me what it’s at the thermometer does and it just lets me turn it up and down.
\

By "the other direction", I am talking about humidity. If you have your incubator at 60% (too high) for a while, then put it down to 50% for a while, and it will balance out.

Temperature does not work that way. You need to keep it as close to the target (99.5%) as possible. If you can't keep it at exactly 99.5% it is better to be too cool than too hot. Only a few degrees above 99.5% is enough to kill the eggs in a few hours. Try to make sure that the temperature never goes above 100. Eggs incubated at slightly below the ideal temperature will still hatch, but it will take longer.

https://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-temperatures-kill-in-incubator.html

Just keep making minor adjustments to your incubator. As you zero in on the correct temperature, make smaller and smaller adjustments.

Early in the incubation process (first week or so) leaving the vents mostly closed helps slightly. At that point they don't need much oxygen and for some reason extra carbon dioxide helps. Later on, you want them fully open.

 

[FernbergFarms]

Okay. I’m gonna have it run for the night and I’m gonna see what it’s at tomorrow I have the vents open for some moisture to come out.i set the thermostat down a little bit so hopefully it will balance out.

 

[FernbergFarms]

The temp is at 99 and humidity about 67-68%