How to Keep Humidity in the Incubator

The humidity in an incubator is read from a hygrometer, which consists of two thermometers. One of these contains a wick, which needs to be kept wet. The "wet-bulb" reading, together with that from the second, dry thermometer, are taken and compared with a chart, which is used to convert these wet-bulb/dry-bulb figures into percentage humidity. Humidity in the incubator is somewhat influenced by that of the environment. The humidity within an incubator is best controlled by adjusting the surface area of water that has been placed in the incubator. The following humidity readings are for poultry.

Things You'll Need

  • Still-air incubator
  • Wet-bulb / dry-bulb hygrometer
  • Heater with integrated thermostat
  • Humidity conversion chart
  • 2 medium sized bowls
  • 2 small bowls
  • 2 sponges (optional)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Fill the glass vile in which the wick from the wet-bulb hygrometer rests, with water. Place this hygrometer into the incubator.

    • 2

      Fill one of the small bowls with water and place it carefully into the incubator.

    • 3

      Set the thermostat on the heater for 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

    • 4

      Close the door of the incubator and wait for 24 hours for the humidity to stabilize.

    • 5

      Open the door of the incubator and take the temperature reading and the humidity reading, using the conversion chart to do so. The humidity should be between 60 and 65 percent during the first 18 days of incubation.

    • 6

      Fill the second bowel (medium) with water and place it in the incubator, if the humidity is lower than 50 to 55 percent. The humidity within the incubator is influenced by the humidity in the environment. During the months of January and February, with the low humidity associated with these months, it is difficult to maintain a high humidity in an incubator. The larger the surface area of water in the incubator, the higher the humidity, and this is why a second bowel is added at this point.

    • 7

      Remove the first bowl and replace it with a smaller bowel, if the humidity is higher than 50 to 55 percent. This situation is likely to develop during the months of June and July, then the outside humidity is high.

    • 8

      Close the incubator door and wait a day to check if the humidity is closer to the desired reading.