Dry Incubation or Normal Incubation?

Josaraucanas said:

wow, awesome!

I would LOVE to get a 100% clutch hatched!! Of course, I've only hatched shipped eggs. The best I've gotten with shipped eggs is 80% but will be trying hatching some of my own in the spring. I am thinking it's better to hatch ones that are fresh and haven't been jostled around by the mail carrier. I am building separated pens inside my large coop for breeding right now. I am definitely taking your trick with the sponges and using that in my Janoel 48, I know exactly what you mean about the water wells in the bottom, makes me crazy every time during lockdown. Thanks so very much!

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80% is great for shipped eggs!!! 50% is considered good with them. My friend @RubyNala97 just hatched some silkies from shipped and I think it was 8/9 hatched. She has a philosophy regarding humidity and shipped eggs that I am going to try next spring when I do shipped eggs. To sum it up, it's keeping the humidity higher the first 10-12 days to give the air cells time to repair themselves and then once they are firm, dropping to the dry/low humidity method to increase air cell size for hatching. It makes a lot of sense, so we're going to see what happens.

Let the shipped eggs sit pointed side down for at least 24 hours at room temp before incubating. Sanitize them with an egg sanitizer using distilled warm water as the water for your sanitizer solution (I use Brinsea brand sanitizer) before putting them in the incubator. Wash your hands before you touch the eggs, everytime. Last- Let the incubator run for 26-28 days before pulling the plug for late bloomers.
Letting them sit helps the air sacs get settled back into the right place after shipping. sanitizing and washing hands reduces bacteria, have less blood rings and letting the incubator run with the remaining eggs a few more days catches a late bloomer. These things have helped my hatch rates incredibly. I lost a lot in the beginning, going off the incubator manuals and not checking the temps against an accurate thermometer, hygrometer, etc. I probably have made every mistake since I started trying to hatch eggs a few years ago. Never assume the paperwork that comes with your incubator is right. Never assume the incubators readings are right. Also- some of the eggs you get shipped to you may not even be fertile at all, or the chickens who laid the eggs may have not been at optimal health for hatching eggs- nutritional deficiencies, and other things can cause death so don't beat yourself up if they don't hatch and you did everything right. Just keep trying and you will find your own ways of doing it that works for you.

I have homemade incubators, and in a small one I dry hatch, but in my larger incubator, I put in a small cup of water, then lock down at first pip, day 19.

I have never done dry incubation but may be next time i will try. the humidity goes up and down...but should hold at around 55% when one channel of water is added and a bathroom tile put over the top to reduce the pool available to evaporation. I normally get a 96% hatch so am happy with that. a few times i get 100% hatch as well which is fantastic.

Just hatched 14 eggs out of 14 eggs. 3 more to hatch on Saturday. Dry hatch, just a warm wet wash cloth last few days or so.
This pic shows only 11, I added more later...











they had to be in separate baskets at first...


I gave them to a momma hen.

Dougy said:

I tried the Dry incubation process.
I set 48 eggs, 14 of which were non fertile eggs detected by candling the eggs.
5 eggs hatched. One egg peeped and died.
The rest had Fully developed chicks that apparently dehydrated and died in the shell.
Dry incubation is not for me. Back to the humidifier.

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Did you monitor the air cells during the incubation and did you raise humidity for hatch?

gimmie birdies said:

Just hatched 14 eggs out of 14 eggs. 3 more to hatch on Saturday. Dry hatch, just a warm wet wash cloth last few days or so.
This pic shows only 11, I added more later...











they had to be in separate baskets at first...


I gave them to a momma hen.

Click to expand...

They are beautifull!