dry incubation

[harrellkd]

I'm confused about the concept of dry incubation and increasing humidity. How do you increase humidity if it is truly dry?

 

[emmaellis111]

its only dry for the first 17-18 days, then the humidity has to go high so the chick doesn't get shrink wrapped

x

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm confused about the concept of dry incubation and increasing humidity. How do you increase humidity if it is truly dry?

The term "dry incubation" is very misleading. I use the term "low humidity incubation" because that is really what it is. You don't want no humidity, but a lot of the time you can run dry and still run at 25 or 30% humidity. More if you are in a humid climate. I only run truely dry if the bator will stay above 25% when it's dry. I don't like anything lower than that for any period of time. If it won't hold that dry I add a wet sponge to the bator and that usually holds it about 30%.

At hatch you need humidity. No matter what you do the first 17 days, those babies need moisture to hatch out. Most people increase to at least 60-65%. If you are a hands off hatcher that's fine. I hatch at 75% because I am so not a hands off hatcher.

Here's more about the concept: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

ETA: It's NOT recommended for high altitude hatching. Higher elevations need higher humidity.

 

[harrellkd]

Gotcha! I have never hatched before, so all of this is new to me! Trying to learn as much as I can!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Gotcha! I have never hatched before, so all of this is new to me! Trying to learn as much as I can!

Best way to do it!

 

[kuchchicks]

x2! I totally agree. My hatches have become way more successful when I switched to dry.

 

[emmaellis111]

well im in day 13, will let u all know how we get on, but so far all looking good

x

 

[AmyLynn2374]

well im in day 13, will let u all know how we get on, but so far all looking good

x

 

[harrellkd]

I'm on day 4. As far as I can tell everything is good so far. Can't wait to candle!

 

[emmaellis111]

you should of seen my face when I candled the eggs ,the grin on my face was huge , just seeing a black dot made me smile, I couldnt resist I candled the egg again on day 11 and when I saw the large dot move i was jumping around with joy, but the main reason im trying the dry incubation is because im too lazy to keep filling it up, especially I have 3 kids under the age of 4 so when the alarm goes off at 4am and wakes the kids up..god it was nightmare

but so far there's been no alarms or constantly filling up, so hopefully it works out mighty fine

cant wait