A different method. Thoughts?

[NikolasGuy1234]

When my dad was younger he would always spray the eggs in the incubator once a day or every other day instead of adding water to the slots. He tells me that when he did it he got really good hatch rates. When he was my age he raised all types of fowl. Chickens, pheasants, ducks, etc. What do you all think about this method? I told him we need a hydrometer and he rolled his eyes, stating "i never needed one." im pretty set on doing this his way for at least a test. Im just looking for others input on this method to see if anyone has had experience Or opinions to give.

 

[RosieR]

When my dad was younger he would always spray the eggs in the incubator once a day or every other day instead of adding water to the slots. He tells me that when he did it he got really good hatch rates. When he was my age he raised all types of fowl. Chickens, pheasants, ducks, etc. What do you all think about this method? I told him we need a hydrometer and he rolled his eyes, stating "i never needed one." im pretty set on doing this his way for at least a test. Im just looking for others input on this method to see if anyone has had experience Or opinions to give.

My grandmother said the same.
I think the difference now is we have tools readily available to us to measure moisture levels. Also, wouldn’t moisture directly on the egg dissolve the bacteria barrier? And make the eggs more susceptible to an early death?
It would be worth a try tho

 

[Ridgerunner]

My suggestion is to try it (on cheap eggs) and see how it goes for you. See if your dad can give you any details. A lot of the time there are a lot of things you can do but the more you can learn the better chances are you will do it right.

The basic recommendations on here are based on studies the commercial operators have paid for, where they might hatch 1,000,000 chicks a week every week in several incubators that might hold 120,000 eggs each. They want the absolute maximum hatch rate and have spent a lot of money studying how to consistently achieve that. A 1% difference in hatch rate might mean a half million chicks a year to them. I don't know how many you plan to hatch but would you even notice a 1% difference? I wouldn't. But we take those recommendations and try to adapt them to our incubators.

Nature was pretty good to us in that there is a window or range of humidity that will work. The closer we can get to the ideal the better chance we will have, but you can be off a fair amount and still get a good hatch. The commercial boys and girls can't, they need to maximize hatch rate.

I don't know if your dad used a forced air or still air incubator. Was it kept in a spring house where the humidity was pretty high or some place really dry. Did the time of the year make a difference, the background humidity can make a difference. Was it in a climate controlled area where the humidity levels are fairly dry? How much did he spray at a time? There are a lot of potential variables, I don't know which, if any, are important with your dad's method.

Have fun with it.