Humidity help needed ASAP please

[chestnutmare]

I've used my Brinsea Mini Eco once before but now I'm using it with a hygrometer. The humidity instructions for the incubator are: fill one pot with water until Day 18, then fill two pots (inside incubator). I've put cream legbar eggs in the mini eco this morning and couldn't believe that the humidity was at 65%. I tried emptying the water and adding a very small piece of dampened sponge in my attempt to lower and humidity was then 70%!

So I removed all water and it finally got down to 45%. Does this sound right? I know the hygrometer is working because I tested it in my RCOM 20 pro before using. Humidity has dropped to 40% this evening (with no water).

Any advice gratefully appreciated!

 

[foxy]

With this weather and a small incubator I am not surprised the humidity shot up! Instructions for incubators are very generic and it can take a few runs in the incubator to get it right for your environment. The first few days of humidity are not critical, so don't worry. Try the incubator dry for the first 18 days, if it stays round about 40% or even a bit lower that will be fine! Then round about the 19/20th day just add a little water till it reaches 65%, then the bit they leave out of instructions "sit on your hands!"

 

[Marigold]

I have a Brinsea Mini Advance and when hatching quail eggs earlier this year I took advice from more experienced people and incubated dry, ie no water at all, until the eggs began to move and it was time to switch off the turning mechanism and line the floor with nonslip material. Then I filled both pots half way. I had no hygrometer but all the fertile eggs in two clutches hatched easily and all the chicks were healthy. In February I suppose the water content of the air was probably about the right level anyway so no extra evaporation was needed. Maybe if you were hatching in a very hot, dry country, more water would be needed in the pots, but not in the UK this year, at any rate! So I wouldn't worry, these are great little incubators and it's best not to have the humidity too high.
I think it's probably very important in such a small inci to keep the lid on until all the chicks have hatched and dried off properly, as lifting it too soon would drastically lower the temperature and humidity vy fast at a critical time. As Foxy says, 'sit on your hands!'

 

[chestnutmare]

Great thank you, this is a relief. I hatched using the Mini Eco earlier in the year, as I was just starting out I followed the instructions and didn't give much thought to the humidity at first. Not all eggs hatched but they were posted. Perhaps the humidity was too high also but I'll never know now.

I feel that I must be doing something wrong by not following the instructions. 07 But if it stays around 40-50% on the humidity gauge, the eggs should do fine?

 

[Marigold]

This Spring was my first experience of hatching too, and like you,binitially I felt I needed to hang on to the instructions, but having read many posts on this forum and another one about the advantages of hatching dry, ie just using the moisture already present in the air being drawn into the incubator, I decided to give it a go and it worked, at least for quails. Several breeders with lots of experience seemed to be saying 'don't over- humidify' so I trusted their advice. I would think, from my limited experience and what I have read, that if the hygrometer says around 40 it will be about right, as Foxy says. Push it up, of course, when the eggs begin to pip. Do let us know how you get on. Nothing is certain when hatching! The little Brinseas do give an amazing view when they are coming out, and at least with Cream Legbars you will have the answer to the Big Question early on.

 

[chestnutmare]

Great, thanks, it is a relief to know this, I want to give the eggs the best chance possible and wasn't sure what I should do.

This morning I woke up to the humidity to below 40% (the sun appeared yesterday afternoon and today, a factor?). So I wet a corner of a flannel and loosely hung it over the incubator where I can see a hole. I don't want to open the incubator and fiddle. It's working. It's back to 40-45% humidity.

I had a decent hatch rate the first time I used the machine. 4/6 pekins and 3/6 bantam silkies (posted). Fingers crossed this will be a good one.

 

[foxy]

The warmer the air around the incubator then yes the relative humidity will be affected, this is only really something to keep an eye on in the smaller plastic incubators. I hatch dry in mine (around 30%) right through to day 20, or until I see chipping.
Just a note to keep the incy out of bright sunlight, but I am sure you are doing that. Temp in the early days can affect development and therefore hatchability.