When to vent

[kurby]

Ok I am on day 3 and my humidity was holding around 40-45 and then it dropped down so I added some water. I did have 1 vent up, so to increase I closed it down a bit. Is this ok?
I am not sure about this whole vent thing. Help! This is my first hatch
K

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

all the plugs should be in. when you have a chick hatch out thats when you take out 1 plug

 

[kstaven]

40 - 45 is just fine. Even into the mid 30's is usually ok. Humidity will bounce in an incubator based on house humidity and the weather outside. Some climates people need to run with both plugs in just to maintain 30%. Others would be at 70% with both in.

If you are at 40% with both plugs in then you will likely need a sponge in the bator for the last 3 days in order to increase humidity. And likely will have to leave the plugs in until the hatch is finished.

 

[kurby]

So you don't have to have a plug open? I was all worried that I did it wrong etc...
I will keep a close eye on it and if it changes then I can take a plug out.
The books with these bators are toooooo general. They need to be a bit more explanitory.
Karen

 

[hinkjc]

Karen, the decision to open a vent is dependent on the type of incubator you are using. If it has a fan, then I do not open any vents. The fan takes care of ventilation for you and the only time you may need to open a vent in one of these machines is to control humidity (when it gets too wet and you see water droplets on the window). If it does NOT have a fan, then ventilation is more important and you need to manage that. I'd say around day 14, one vent should be opened. You will have to watch your humidity and control that with these types of changes by adding more water or a sponge as someone mentioned. Good luck with your hatch.

Jody