Not Good!!!!!

Hatchrite BITES and I can't get the humidity stable!!!!!!!
I should have stuck with vermiculite!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ggsinbator.jpg

true. everybody swears by vermiculite. the only thing that concerns me is that some vermiculite may have asbestos in it.

I heard from someone (JUDY?) that NERD uses only Hatchrite these days. Maybe you could email Kara??

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Originally Posted by starmom

I heard from someone (JUDY?) that NERD uses only Hatchrite these days. Maybe you could email Kara??

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That's why I bought it. I gave away the vermiculite I had and bought this stuff. It's good for about a half hour out of the bag then dries up and I can't get the humidity up using the 'bator tray under the screen.

Did you completely seal the egg box? If not, that's why you're losing the moisture. Egg box doesn't need to have any holes or anything in it, and needs to be completely covered with either a piece of glass or some Glad Press N' Seal. I used the Press N Seal on a 6qt egg box last season and it worked great. Eggs stayed nice and plump.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Did you completely seal the egg box?

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Yes. Top was off for the pic but I put the hovabator top back on to keep in the heat.
Either I got a bad bag of hatchrite or you need to add water to get it above 62% humidity.

And that is 62% with the resevoir under the screen being filled with water.:confused:

If you can find some of that fluorescent light diffuser grating, cut it to fit the tub, fully saturate the HatchRite, and place the grating on top with the eggs, they should be fine.

That's just odd that it's only 62%..

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

If you can find some of that fluorescent light diffuser grating, cut it to fit the tub, fully saturate the HatchRite, and place the grating on top with the eggs, they should be fine.

That's just odd that it's only 62%..

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I'll try that.
I was just talking with someone else and they have dry hatchrite as well. I think the place we got them from is selling bad bags.

If the bag of hatchrite has the slightest hole in it, out goes the moisture. You should squeeze the unopened bag to see if it has a breach before you buy it!

If the incubator is leaking to much air you can loose all your humidity that way as well. In our large 9 clutch incubator we have only one 1/4" hole that is for make up air. Any additional and you loose humidity too fast and that is with a resivior in the humidifier + the substrate.

It may not be the Hatchrite, it may be the Hovabator. Sorry to say but I've heard so many people that did everything right and lost BP eggs because they went with a Hovabator so that may be your real culprit here.

How often are you taking the top off of the egg box? I used wet vermiculite for my eggs and If I checked on the eggs too often the humidity would never stay high enough.

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Originally Posted by Rapture

How often are you taking the top off of the egg box? I used wet vermiculite for my eggs and If I checked on the eggs too often the humidity would never stay high enough.

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First time since they were laid. The instructions on the bag of hatchrite said to air out the container once a week.

Steve,

What are you using to measure humidity and is that the prob in the egg box?

Rich

Carefully poor some water over on the side of the tub away from the eggs an ounce or so at a time and let it soak into the substrate - give it a few hours and check the humidity again - if you need to add a little more - be sure not to pour or drip any on the eggs. You'll be fine.

I see the wafer on the Hov - are you using that to control your temps or do you have another thermostat?

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Originally Posted by rbchesapeakeball

Steve,

What are you using to measure humidity and is that the prob in the egg box?

Rich

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The probe is in the egg box.

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Originally Posted by Tosha_Mc

Carefully poor some water over on the side of the tub away from the eggs an ounce or so at a time and let it soak into the substrate - give it a few hours and check the humidity again - if you need to add a little more - be sure not to pour or drip any on the eggs. You'll be fine.

I see the wafer on the Hov - are you using that to control your temps or do you have another thermostat?

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I'll keep trying that.

The wafer is connected to a T-stat and there is also another digital thermometer as a backup to measure temps just in case.

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Originally Posted by starmom

I heard from someone (JUDY?) that NERD uses only Hatchrite these days. Maybe you could email Kara??

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That was me, and Brian just said in chat tonight that he's using Hatchrite - I missed if exclusively or not - but he gave it a thumbs up too.