Incubator humidity concern

[dawn secord]

Hi - Incubating question. I have just purchased a NR 360 incubator and am running it for a few days to test temp and humidity. I have 3 Hygrometers. The NR 360 humidity reads 39 currently. The three hygrometers read 30, 32 and 23. The temps are not all consistent 99.5. The incubator says 99.5. The Hygrometers say 101.9 and 100.8. I've ordered a Govee Hygrometer Thermometer H5075 due too. The hygrometers are inconsistent with the incubator. Has anyone had any difficulties with a NR 360 and humidity? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am in the Dallas, Texas area so humidity jumps around alot. My last hatch was a 100% fail with a Kebonnixs (never used before - hence the change to a NR 360). In the past I used a Janoel 12. Don't want to have that heartbreak again. Appreciate any help or advice!​

 

[Debbie292d]

I have used the NR360. I've heard great things about the Kebonnix too.

I think when you get your Govee, you should mark the back of the other thermometers/hygrometers with how off they are so you can use more than one but know, for instance, to subtract 1 degree from one of them.

Humidity is just an average, so I'd fill the A receptical on the NR360 every morning and that seemed to keep it between 35 - 45% as I wanted. When I raised it for lockdown, I started adding the distilled water to the B one, and then it got trickier to try keep it up near 70% and I was filling both twice per day. If the humidity drifts up or down a little, that's usually only for an hour or so, and doesn't hurt anything.

For the hygrometer calibration, there's a salt test you can do by putting salt in a water bottle cap, get it wet, and stick it in a zip lock bag with your hygrometer. Check on it after 12 hours. It should read 75%.

 

[dawn secord]

I have used the NR360. I've heard great things about the Kebonnix too.

I think when you get your Govee, you should mark the back of the other thermometers/hygrometers with how off they are so you can use more than one but know, for instance, to subtract 1 degree from one of them.

Humidity is just an average, so I'd fill the A receptical on the NR360 every morning and that seemed to keep it between 35 - 45% as I wanted. When I raised it for lockdown, I started adding the distilled water to the B one, and then it got trickier to try keep it up near 70% and I was filling both twice per day. If the humidity drifts up or down a little, that's usually only for an hour or so, and doesn't hurt anything.

For the hygrometer calibration, there's a salt test you can do by putting salt in a water bottle cap, get it wet, and stick it in a zip lock bag with your hygrometer. Check on it after 12 hours. It should read 75%.

Thank you. I am raising silkies too. For the hygrometer, it is battery operated. Will your calibration test work with that kind of hygrometer?

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you. I am raising silkies too. For the hygrometer, it is battery operated. Will your calibration test work with that kind of hygrometer?

Yes!

 

[mcdze]

best advice i can give is get it set and dont mess with it after eggs are in it .. if you got to play with it for a week to get it right, do that, 'before' setting eggs ... stability and consistency are more important than exact numbers, especially on humidity, as long as it 'stays the same' throughout the incubation period which is much more important .. lifting the lid and fondling the eggs does more harm than good, even candling i avoid, just once at about 10 days to get rid of potential stinkers ... that said i like humidity on the high side throughout, 60-85 is completely fine from day1 to hatch but whatever youre doing, keep it consistent .. if you add x amount of water to y amount of surface area and it produces and holds 70% humidity, keep doing that .. dont change things everytime you walk up, opening the bator, candling again, dropping temp and humidity blah blah, yeah, thats hurting not helping ... so in summary, aim humidity to ~65% or so, aim for 99.1 temp .. get the bator where it holds very close to that day to day .. humidity is less important than temp, personally i dont want it less than 50% 'ever' but if it holds steady at 60, or 70, or 80 .. just fine ... temp is more critical, i never want to see 97f and i never want to see 101f .. those extremes wont generally kill them, problem is any fluctuation due to ambient conditions you 'dont see' indeed might exceed even those numbers which will start to kill them .. so aiming for a steady 99.1 works best, if occasionally its at 99.8 or 98.5 im in the goldilocks zone

 

[dawn secord]

Yes!

thank you - silly me, I speed read your answer and was thinking the water was in the bag - not in a dish. I did the test on 3 different hygrometers and all were a few degrees off from one another. I just purchased a Govee and am hoping for the best.

 

[Bluebelle7]

I bought couple of hygrometers/thermometers and they were all few degrees off each other. Then I got this on eBay Thermopro TP157, 2 Pack Hygrometer. I put the 2 of them on table and they both showed the same temperature and humidity, but just putting my hand near one made the reading slightly different, which means they are extremely sensitive. I have calibrated the incubator setting to them. Although that was also bit of a battle as different spots in the incubator were giving different readings - then I realized it needs to be left alone and it will distribute the heat evenly.
After watching every tutorial, and read all that I could find I printed this and pasted it on the wall above my incubator. It sounds only logical that when hen sits on the eggs the temperature and humidity is not constant right through the whole incubation. She of course, will leave the nest. Some of mine did stay away for an hour or more.

With my incubator, once I put eggs in and left it undisturbed, with one of my hygrometers far left, the other far right, they pretty much aligned themselves, and both temperature and humidity seems to be pretty much the same in the 2 different spots. When the humidity goes down bellow 45 I squirt bit more water and it goes back up over 50 in both.

 

[dawn secord]

I bought couple of hygrometers/thermometers and they were all few degrees off each other. Then I got this on eBay Thermopro TP157, 2 Pack Hygrometer. I put the 2 of them on table and they both showed the same temperature and humidity, but just putting my hand near one made the reading slightly different, which means they are extremely sensitive. I have calibrated the incubator setting to them. Although that was also bit of a battle as different spots in the incubator were giving different readings - then I realized it needs to be left alone and it will distribute the heat evenly.
After watching every tutorial, and read all that I could find I printed this and pasted it on the wall above my incubator. It sounds only logical that when hen sits on the eggs the temperature and humidity is not constant right through the whole incubation. She of course, will leave the nest. Some of mine did stay away for an hour or more.

With my incubator, once I put eggs in and left it undisturbed, with one of my hygrometers far left, the other far right, they pretty much aligned themselves, and both temperature and humidity seems to be pretty much the same in the 2 different spots. When the humidity goes down bellow 45 I squirt bit more water and it goes back up over 50 in both.

thank you

 

[heatherbell2]

Hi - Incubating question. I have just purchased a NR 360 incubator and am running it for a few days to test temp and humidity. I have 3 Hygrometers. The NR 360 humidity reads 39 currently. The three hygrometers read 30, 32 and 23. The temps are not all consistent 99.5. The incubator says 99.5. The Hygrometers say 101.9 and 100.8. I've ordered a Govee Hygrometer Thermometer H5075 due too. The hygrometers are inconsistent with the incubator. Has anyone had any difficulties with a NR 360 and humidity? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am in the Dallas, Texas area so humidity jumps around alot. My last hatch was a 100% fail with a Kebonnixs (never used before - hence the change to a NR 360). In the past I used a Janoel 12. Don't want to have that heartbreak again. Appreciate any help or advice!​

I have them same incubator here in Texas & Govee Hygrometer.. I'm on day 16 with 48 cortunix eggs set. I set mine at 101.5 F with 3/4 of the slot open for the humidity. Where I live humidity is on the high ends. Right now I've got almost half hatched already.. I'll know what my hatch rate will be in a couple of days. I did wrap my incubator with a blanket leaving it open where the humidity slot could breathe. First time hatching quail for me.. hatched a ton of chickens though.. so we will see!!

 

[Kortniruth]

Hi - Incubating question. I have just purchased a NR 360 incubator and am running it for a few days to test temp and humidity. I have 3 Hygrometers. The NR 360 humidity reads 39 currently. The three hygrometers read 30, 32 and 23. The temps are not all consistent 99.5. The incubator says 99.5. The Hygrometers say 101.9 and 100.8. I've ordered a Govee Hygrometer Thermometer H5075 due too. The hygrometers are inconsistent with the incubator. Has anyone had any difficulties with a NR 360 and humidity? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am in the Dallas, Texas area so humidity jumps around alot. My last hatch was a 100% fail with a Kebonnixs (never used before - hence the change to a NR 360). In the past I used a Janoel 12. Don't want to have that heartbreak again. Appreciate any help or advice!​

So what was the end result when you got the Govee? Was incubator off? Having some of same issue