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Incubator humidity?

 
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Mr O



Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 14 4:21 pm    Post subject: Incubator humidity? Reply with quote
    

Has anyone got any tips on controlling the humidity level in an incubator?

Nature'sgrafter



Joined: 22 Feb 2012
Posts: 527
Location: Sanday , Orkney
PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 14 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

buy one with it built in
sorry it's the safest way IMHO. Failing that there are units available to buy what are you trying to hatch.

Bodger



Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 14 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I'm just about to put this information on the Welsummers thread but I think you'll find it useful Mr O


I've unashamedly nicked this off this chaps very good website.

https://www.chickens.me.uk/Welsumm...kens/Incubating_%26_Hatching.html

It contains great information on specifically how to hatch Welsummer eggs. Just have a look at the colour of the eggs that he's getting from both his Welsummers and Marans, they look terrific.
I'd hate to think how much he's charging for his hatching eggs but I'm tempted and I may give him a call. Its also useful to see the difference between the eggs from the two breeds.

Mr O



Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 14 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Nature'sgrafter wrote:
buy one with it built in
sorry it's the safest way IMHO. Failing that there are units available to buy what are you trying to hatch.
I am hatching chickens, but I don't understand your answer, my incubator has a hygrometer but the humidity seems to swing wildly from low to high when I add water.

Bodger



Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 14 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Dependent on where you live, there might not be a need to add water to your incubator. I know plenty of people who don't, while I only add it for the last two to three days. What's the humidity like where you live, I wouldn't think its particularly dry.

Nature'sgrafter



Joined: 22 Feb 2012
Posts: 527
Location: Sanday , Orkney
PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 14 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sorry English humour, the meter will swing if you open the unit (assuming the water container is inside) as fresh air gets in and the humidity needs to stabilise afterwards. Unless the water container is external ? in which case if it runs dry the initial burst of water can go high as the unit try's to establish the set level.
but for chickens bodgers link is a good source of answers https://www.chickens.me.uk/Welsummer_Chickens/Incubating_%26_Hatching.html it give you the correct humidity at each stage.

Lorrainelovesplants



Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne
PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 14 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I only add water in the last 4 days. The condensation on the glass is my guide.

Mr O



Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 14 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bodger wrote:
Dependent on where you live, there might not be a need to add water to your incubator. I know plenty of people who don't, while I only add it for the last two to three days. What's the humidity like where you live, I wouldn't think its particularly dry.
Today outside is 45% inside is 23%

Bodger



Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

PostPosted: Mon Mar 03, 14 5:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Right now, its showing 69% in and 71% out here, so there's quite a difference. That's one of the bedrooms that we don't heat.

chickenlady



Joined: 18 Aug 2013
Posts: 413
Location: Dorset
PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 14 1:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I always incubate dry right up until they start pipping and then I add a little warm water.

chez



Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 14 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mr O wrote:
Bodger wrote:
Dependent on where you live, there might not be a need to add water to your incubator. I know plenty of people who don't, while I only add it for the last two to three days. What's the humidity like where you live, I wouldn't think its particularly dry.
Today outside is 45% inside is 23%


It doesn't matter too much if it swings up when you put the water in, provided it swings back down again. It's the average humidity over the length of hatch that's important, plus whacking it up at the end. I do find that it works best if the water temperature that I'm adding is roughly blood-heat, otherwise there's lots more condensation that pushes it right up and also messes with the thermostat.

To keep it up at the end, try sticking a sponge or a scrumpled up j-cloth or tea-towel in the reservoir, to give more evaporation surface - I have a pad from a washable nappy that I pop in .

There is a really good book by a chap called Rob Harvey called 'Practical Incubation' that has a lot of very nerdy information about egg weight loss if you want to go really technical. He has a few different incubators that he keeps at different humidities and he swaps the eggs back and forth according to how they match the projected weight-loss.


(I tried 'dry hatching' a couple of years and it was okay; but I've not got a big incubator that definitely hatches better if I keep the reservoir full - it helps to regulate the temperature.)

Mr O



Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 14 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Chez wrote:
Mr O wrote:
Bodger wrote:
Dependent on where you live, there might not be a need to add water to your incubator. I know plenty of people who don't, while I only add it for the last two to three days. What's the humidity like where you live, I wouldn't think its particularly dry.
Today outside is 45% inside is 23%


It doesn't matter too much if it swings up when you put the water in, provided it swings back down again. It's the average humidity over the length of hatch that's important, plus whacking it up at the end. I do find that it works best if the water temperature that I'm adding is roughly blood-heat, otherwise there's lots more condensation that pushes it right up and also messes with the thermostat.

To keep it up at the end, try sticking a sponge or a scrumpled up j-cloth or tea-towel in the reservoir, to give more evaporation surface - I have a pad from a washable nappy that I pop in .

There is a really good book by a chap called Rob Harvey called 'Practical Incubation' that has a lot of very nerdy information about egg weight loss if you want to go really technical. He has a few different incubators that he keeps at different humidities and he swaps the eggs back and forth according to how they match the projected weight-loss.


(I tried 'dry hatching' a couple of years and it was okay; but I've not got a big incubator that definitely hatches better if I keep the reservoir full - it helps to regulate the temperature.)

Thanks Chez.

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