The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Housing, Health & Hatching

Temp and humidity control

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Max:
I would like to share my thoughts on temp and humidity. First, incubation techniques will vary depending on the climate where you live and the type of incubator you are using. Altitude, average humidity, etc. will have an effect on your particular setup. This is based on my local climate here in Texas using a GQF cabinet incubator.

Humidity control - I try to average 45% humidity for the first 18 days. If it drops below 40% or rises above 50% during that time I will make an adjustment. Once they are moved to the hatcher the humidity is raised to 60%. As the chicks begin to hatch, the humidity will rise to 65-70% on its own due to the wet hatching chicks. I have had great success with this method. Very few if any chicks that get stuck in the shell.

I use a digital hygrometer but only after it has been calibrated. To calibrate, pour about 1/4 cup of table salt in a cup and add just enough water to make it like wet sand. Put it in a gallon zip-lock bag along with the hygrometer and seal it up for a couple of hours. The humidity should read 75%. If it doesn't then just add or subtract the difference and write it on the unit. (Ex. If it reads 67% then write +8 on the unit)

Temp control - The most accurate thermometer I have found is a digital thermometer for humans. It can be purchased in the pharmacy at wal-mart. I drilled a small hole in the side of the cabinet about half way up and insert and just leave it there all the time. I only turn it on long enough to check/adjust temp and then turn it off. I try to keep the temp between 99.4 and 99.9 degrees. This thermometer is so sensitive you can adjust by .1 degrees.

Cabinet incubators are not a closed environment. They have air vents that constantly circulate and exchange the air inside the unit. The incubator temp and humidity will change with the room temp and humidity. For every 10 degrees of room temp change the incubator temp will change by 1 degree. The more stable you can keep your room the more stable the incubator will be.

I hope this helps. Feel free to share your opinions and experiences…  ;D

greeneggsandham:
Brinsea spot check thermometers are the most accurate I have found.  I used many store bought others and they simply were not accurate.  These fit perfectly through the small air holes found on many styrofoam incubators.

http://www.brinsea.com/p-394-spot-check-digital-incubator-thermometer.aspx

Dan Pitts:
Well, I'm very late to this conversation, but I am just beginning to incubate Ameraucanas so I will offer my hatching experience so far. I hatch on a much smaller scale, and work long hours, so I opted for a Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance. I've hatched cuckoo marans, BCM, Easter Eggers, and Polish almost continuously since January of last year. My magic number for humidity during the first 18 days has been 37-42%, and 65%+ at lockdown. I average over a 90% hatch rate, and have had one 100% hatch. The only breed that deviated from those numbers were the BCM, where I had better hatch rates at lower humidity, 30%.
My BCM and Polish were hatchery quality, and I have scrapped both flocks to make room for, and focus on, Paul's Ameraucanas. I'm incubating my first batch now at my normal humidity of 40%. I hope to have results around Jan. 22 :)

Don:
Dan,  Sounds like you have a good handle on hatching with those kinds of percentages.  I've heard great things about the Brinsea incubators too.  I think the biggest element for incubating humidity is the overall evaporation.  Some like to start with a drier humidity and them ramp up really high toward the end of the cycle.  But with percentages like these, you should have no problem with the AMs.  Good luck on the hatch.   

Dan Pitts:
I did a day 9 candle last night. I set 28, had 6 clears, and most had strong veining. A few were questionable, so I will leave them in and do another candle at lockdown. I had gotten where incubation wasn't a big deal to me, but I'm dying to see my first generation of my own AMs  :)

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