[harry]

anyone got one of those cheap humidity meters... under a fiver... theres some on ebay for buy it now 99pence are they any good? ive just noticed the post for the 99p one is £8 ... dont like that con will buy of another if i buy

[shetlandpaul]

lots for £3+ £ postage. with everything ebay watch yourself.

[F.CUTHBERT]

I bought one of these digital hygrometers for a fiver of ebay. It arrived late, first day the wife dropped it into the water dish which probably hasn't helped it but I dried it out and it seemed ok. The temp always read a degree or two lower than the spirit thermometer and now after only a week it has died completely.
Anyone got any recommendations for a hygrometer that actually works and preferably doesn't cost too much?

[bigchicken]

I got cheep humidity meter from my local reptile shop for a few pounds and have used it successfully for two years with good results.

[MAK]

amazon sell a combined humidity and temp meter for about a £10. works fine but then we have no gold standard to compare it with.

[Mammyshaz]

I didn't think of a reptile shop for a humidity reader    will check it out thanks. Our incubator is a brines Eco 20 but I don't know how accurate they are so want to check with a few readings before we start our first ever hatch 

[hughesy]

I wouldn't get too hung up about humidity in an incubator. I run mine dry until day 18 and this has proved way more reliable than any automatic or manual system that controls humidity.

[Mammyshaz]

I wouldn't get too hung up about humidity in an incubator. I run mine dry until day 18 and this has proved way more reliable than any automatic or manual system that controls humidity.

Hmmm,  interesting. Now I'm confused. I thought a combination of  temperature and humidity were the important factors for development by hatching time 

[HesterF]

I think humidity is most important for the actual hatch time so the membranes don't dry out as they're trying to break through them. I've just set up our new incubator and for waterfowl we need a 45-55% humidity until shortly before the hatch. Coincidentally, our kitchen is at 50% humidity anyway. So I guess if you live in a damp(ish) house, the natural humidity could be just right anyway.

And, yes, reptile shops have good control systems. My son has lizards as his pets and we've got all sorts of measurement systems for them - mostly for temperature though.

H

[graham-j]

Hi,humidity is relative to temperature.So if the humidity in the air of you house is 50% at say 20c,if you heat that air to 37.7c the humidity will only be about 20%.
The humidity in an incubator running dry is,made up mainly by the eggs themselves loosing moisture combined with the humidity all ready in the air.
If you run an incy dry then it needs to be completely full of eggs for the incy to maintain a high enough humidity,an incy running dry full of eggs will normally hold a humidity of 40% which is correct for chicken eggs.
The humidity through out the hatch is just as important as at the end if the humidity is to low the egg will dry out and the chick will be shrunk wrapped inside its own membrane and will die,if the humidity is to high the egg will not loose enough moisture and the chick will drown in its own juice.
Duck eggs are in the incy a week longer than chicken eggs so require a higher humidity to stop them drying out,the humidity should be kept at over 50% to incubate a duck or goose egg and 70% for the hatch.

Graham.

[HesterF]

Interesting I was reading one of my goose books last night and the author of that reckons that early season goose eggs should have a lower humidity because they're thicker shelled so the problem for them is losing enough moisture rather than losing too much. Now I'm thoroughly confused! I guess I'll be weighing regularly (my first batch are going in this pm),

H

[MAK]

It is confusing. We bought our cheap temp/humidity meter to keep a eye on the dry cure sausages  .
I guess if I wanted to make a living out of chicks then I would have to invest some time and money into the science. For now I would rather let our ducks do their own incubating. We are taking their eggs just now as it seems a bit cold to leave eggs in the nest until the mums start to sit 24/7.

[chrismahon]

Wise MAK as letting them incubate and try to keep the temperatures up can kill them. Humidity meters are not really necessary. First 18 days run dry (no additional water) unless the ambient humidity is very low -you need to be sure the air sac develops which is the result of evaporating the excess water in the egg. Then run high for hatching to be sure the membrane (under the shell) does't dry out as it will stick to the chick and result in death.

[HesterF]

I checked with the breeder I got our geese from and they also run dry until close to hatching but spray the eggs once a day so I'll do the same. I've got an external humidity pump attached to the incubator so I've left that there but set the humidity low (20%) to make sure it doesn't kick in. Broodies must be so clever to manage all of this by instinct - I don't know how they add humidity (except by knocking over the water bowl - maybe she is doing it on purpose).

H

[graham-j]

Hi with my goose eggs,I set the humidity to 50%,I turn the eggs 3 times daily by hand,always end over end never rotate them.Every time I turn the eggs I spray them until the water runs off.
As the eggs begin to pip,I whack the humidity up to over 70%.I treat ducks the same.
Here are some of the gosling's I hatched last year.

Graham.