What Would You Do?

[SabaiFarms]

I had one of 16 hatch from my first batch. I am about to receive 15 more eggs (being shipped today) and want to know if you think I should adjust my bator in any way.

I purchased a Hova Bator 1588 and did no adjustments for my first hatch. I have serious thermometer/hygrometer issues (every one I own says something different), so I really don't have any exact measurements.

My first batch was horribly scrambled in shipping. I removed most of them because of no development and when I cracked them open they were totally scrambled. I did have 3 early quitters, two after lock-down that I know of. The one that hatched had a detached air cell, but is doing great. The thing is, that she hatched on late day 23/early day 24! She was also very sticky for a few days, which I was told was from too high humidity.

The bulb thermometer that came with the bator was consistently at 101.5-102. I know these aren't very accurate, but it was at least consistent. The digital thermometer I had in there ranged from 97-99 degrees. The hygrometer on it was reading about 30% the whole time, which I'm convinced was incorrect. I bought another hygrometer that I calibrated and thought was correct. That read about 50% before lock-down and 70% during lock-down, which I thought was correct.

I also had some power issues for one day that caused the temperatures to drop for about an hour down to the high 80s. I thought that since it was for a short period of time that it shouldn't effect the hatch too badly. I did have to move the bator to the bathroom for a few days while they fixed the power, which may have been significantly colder.

The digital thermometer went into the brooder, but started having strange readings. I tried to calibrate it and the thing went berserk, so I bought a new one yesterday. This one is reading 98.6 inside the bator consistently. The box says it's accurate +/- one degree. So, either my bator is exact and the thermometer is off a degree, or the thermometer is correct and my bator is off a degree.

I don't really have time to buy (wait for shipping) a better thermometer, and I can NOT find one within driving distance (I have looked everywhere!).

So, here are my questions.

Would you leave the bator be?

Would you increase the bator temperature one degree?

Is it better to e a degree higher or a degree lower?

Would you adjust the humidity? Decrease?

How do you decrease the humidity in a Hova Bator 1588 since it has trays only? Use cups of water in there?

Should I order a super expensive thermometer/hygrometer online and pay crazy amounts of money to have it shipped overnight?

Any advise you have would be super helpful. I just want to make sure I get as many babies as I can from this second hatch.

Thanks!!

 

[lockedhearts]

You need to calibrate your hygrometers using the Salt Test.

Find a sealable container, a small container put in a tablespoon of salt, add just enough water to make a paste.
Set Hygrometers in and leave for 8 hours.

They should read 75% , if not you need to note if they are under or over and by how much.

I just did mine and it was 21 % low. So I add 21% to what it reads.

Lower temps will give a little later hatch but humidity is important too.

Also, once you calibrate the hygrometer, leave it on the counter and check what the normal humidity in the room is. Mine runs 35% so I barely add water to my bator to get 45-50

 

[SabaiFarms]

Quote:
I did calibrate the hygrometer I bought with the salt test and it was reading 12% higher than it should. The 50% / 70% readings during the hatch were after deducting the 12%. Is that too high?

I live in Colorado where the humidity is extremely low too, so I thought if anything the humidity would be low in the bator. I never thought it would get too high!

Thanks!

 

[lockedhearts]

What does the humidity run in your house normally? Mine runs roughly 35 so I am very careful about adding water to the bator.

Some hygrometers are just duds, I had to return 2 that I bought, I did the test 3 times and got 3 different readings from them all.

I ended up buying a Humidor Hygrometer (for cigars) I only paid about $20 with shipping and it works well. The one I have reading 21 off is not that one, it runs less than 1% either way

 

[Rebel Rooster]

From the description... it sounds like the temps are a little low and humidity was a little high... I would bump the temp up a degree and try to hold the humidity around 40-50% during incubation...

 

[SabaiFarms]

Quote:
I really don't know what the humidity is usually in my house. I just moved to Colorado from Florida and to me it feels as if it's 0% all day long! Right now my bator is running with no water in it and the hygrometer is reading 30%. Minus the 12% it is off from my calibration it's at 18%!

Quote:
How do I decrease the humidity in the bator? Use cups of water on top and not the bottom tray? I have an automatic egg turner in there that makes it hard to put anything in there.


Thanks so much for your responses!

 

[lockedhearts]

You have the plastic tray in the bottom ? Try just fill the middle tray and see what it reads then. I only fill my middle one about 1/2 full. You can always take some water out with a papertowel if it reads too high.

 

[SabaiFarms]

Quote:
When I filled the middle tray it was at 50%, like I said.

I thought humidity was caused from surface area, not depth?

 

[lockedhearts]

Quote:
When I filled the middle tray it was at 50%, like I said.

I thought humidity was caused from surface area, not depth?

I think it can be both. I am no good at math, so figuring out if the smaller channels will be different than the middle is going to have to be a trial thing. You could take all water out and try filling one of the small channels and see if that works. This is what I had to do, was just trial and error to figure out how to get it right. I would also maybe run on the lower side of 45-48 and see if that helps. Unfortunately this hatching thing is not an exact science. There are guidelines but you have to figure out what works for you in your house. I am using a still air bator and once I figured out what I needed to do, I get good hatches. My last hatch stunk, but I did not calibrate first and that was my fault.

It should only take you a day or two to figure out the water amount to get humidity right.

 

[SabaiFarms]

Well, I decided to increase the temperature in the bator. Hopefully this next hatch will go better!

Any other ideas out there?