Humidity Too low?

[khayes667]

This is my first time incubating chicken eggs. I have a Sailnovo 12 egg incubator that keeps saying the humidity is too low and the manual is not very helpful in fixing the problem! Can the vent be closed? I'm worried not enough fresh air will get in but it does help the temp reading (100.1-100.5) and the humidity reading increase if I do close it more for a while. I'm stressed out and don't want to mess it up! We're on day 4. I've read about adding a wet sponge but not really sure where to put it on this model. There doesn't seem to be enough room inside without interrupting the turner. Any help appreciated!

 

[LaurenRitz]

I do dry hatch so my experience may not be helpful. However.

Get an individual hydrometer. The meter in your unit may be defective, so better to have a backup than to drive the humidity too high.

Try a piece of yarn instead of a sponge? Not sure how this is set up. Basically you're trying to increase surface area for the water to evaporate from.

More important than actual humidity levels is consistency. You don't want it to drop to 20% and jump up to 80. Whatever the humidity level, keep it in the same general range until lockdown.

Fresh air becomes more important during lockdown. Right now closing the vent more shouldn't be an issue, with the caveat that it should never be completely closed.

 

[khayes667]

I do dry hatch so my experience may not be helpful. However.

Get an individual hydrometer. The meter in your unit may be defective, so better to have a backup than to drive the humidity too high.

Try a piece of yarn instead of a sponge? Not sure how this is set up. Basically you're trying to increase surface area for the water to evaporate from.

More important than actual humidity levels is consistency. You don't want it to drop to 20% and jump up to 80. Whatever the humidity level, keep it in the same general range until lockdown.

Fresh air becomes more important during lockdown. Right now closing the vent more shouldn't be an issue, with the caveat that it should never be completely closed.

Thank you! Humidity is definitely consistent within like 6% every day. I'll see what other methods might be able to fit in the incubator to up the humidity a bit.

What is lockdown? This is my first go at hatching, so I'm clueless on the terms

 

[catsndogs4us]

What is lockdown? This is my first go at hatching, so I'm clueless on the terms

Lockdown is when you stop turning the eggs and up the humidity. For chicken eggs this is typically done on day 18 when there are 3 days left before hatch. Everything is locked down, do not disturb. Unless there is an issue.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Thank you! Humidity is definitely consistent within like 6% every day. I'll see what other methods might be able to fit in the incubator to up the humidity a bit.

What is lockdown? This is my first go at hatching, so I'm clueless on the terms

Lockdown is generally the last few days of incubation. This is the period where the hen stops leaving the nest almost entirely, the chicks position themselves for hatch and start "talking." In a chicken hatch on an incubator, lockdown is generally day 18. General instruction is that at this point humidity should be increased, but in a dry hatch I've found that unnecessary as the eggs themselves spike the humidity as the chicks pip.