Anybody dry incubating?

[quintinp]

Yes, you have it right. Dry incubation is mainly called this, because in most areas people don't have to add water to the incubator to get the desired 20-30% humidity. In some cases, people have to add water though. I Dry incubate. I don't call it "Dry Hatch" anymore, because that really doesn't make sense.


By the way, you want about 70% humidity for Lock Down. Good luck.

 

[chickenlisa]

I set 39 eggs (Marans!

)yesterday in my Genesis hovabator...forced air- 99.5-100.5 temps. I'm wanting to do Dry incubation so haven't added any water yet. The 2 hydrometers I had in there both read "lo" so i switched them for 2 other ones, and am getting 25% and 23% readings....should I add any water to get it up to 25-30%? Our house is heated by old steam radiators...and very dry to say the least. We all suffer from dry skin and congested sinuses in the winter- even this mild winter that NJ is having this year. I don't want anything to jeopardize these eggs, so please advise? I've never done dry incubation before, but want the best hatch I can get this time.....

Thanks

Lisa

 

[mstricer]

I started 42 eggs on 2/8  so may have leap year peeps on 2/29 if all goes well.
I tried the humidity regular aproach before, adding water when less than 35% and at the end got
a bunch of drowned chicks.
So this time I'm trying dry hatching to see if that was the cause.
So far have not added any water - but the humidity shows steady at 16%.
Perhaps when I candle if the air sac appears very large, I'll add a bit of water-
I'm using a styrofoam bator and these have a reputation for staying too humid to hatch live chicks.
Will follow up at the end to share results.

Be careful with the steady 16% I have found out that most of my hydrometers don't read below 16%. I never let it go that low and only had enough to bump up to 35%.

 

[rednana9]

Update! Have 2 more hatched and serveral pipping!

 

[Dirty_South_Chickens]

I set 39 eggs (Marans!

)yesterday in my Genesis hovabator...forced air- 99.5-11.2 temps. I'm wanting to do Dry incubation so haven't added any water yet. The 2 hydrometers I had in there both read "lo" so i switched them for 2 other ones, and am getting 25% and 23% readings....should I add any water to get it up to 25-30%? Our house is heated by old steam radiators...and very dry to say the least. We all suffer from dry skin and congested sinuses in the winter- even this mild winter that NJ is having this year. I don't want anything to jeopardize these eggs, so please advise? I've never done dry incubation before, but want the best hatch I can get this time.....

Thanks

Lisa

I think you should be fine but time will tell for sure because I wouldn't think candling is a option to check the egg sack growth on them dark shells. In fact one person on this site claims to use no water at all even at lockdown! I for one am trying to keep my diy bator at about 25% but it has been as low as 22% and as high as 35%. I have 4 different size vents and am working them to find the best combo but still does what it wants anyways so I'm not going to fret about it. Good luck with your hatch! Please keep us posted.

 

[Dirty_South_Chickens]

Update! Have 2 more hatched and serveral pipping!

That's great! how many eggs did you set?

 

[rednana9]

I set 15 serama and 18 sikie,sg,nn and cochin mix. So far i have 1 silkie sg and 6 serama.

 

[chickenlisa]

I think you should be fine but time will tell for sure because I wouldn't think candling is a option to check the egg sack growth on them dark shells. In fact one person on this site claims to use no water at all even at lockdown! I for one am trying to keep my diy bator at about 25% but it has been as low as 22% and as high as 35%. I have 4 different size vents and am working them to find the best combo but still does what it wants anyways so I'm not going to fret about it. Good luck with your hatch! Please keep us posted.

Thanks...that helps me relax some... I'll keep you posted...here and on the hatching Mid march thread and the super long 3000+ pages Marans thread.....

 

[seminolewind]

I just set 28 eggs yesterday and this is my 2 time to dry incubate. First time I ran about 30 to 35% humidity and about 70 for lockdown. This time I am trying around 25 to 30% and 50 to 60% for lockdown. I am trying to nail down a good % for both and just wondering whats working for y'all. Also my temps are staying really steady at 99.3 to 100.6 with a real slow change. My 25W night light keeps my temps steady after my other 2 get it to about 99 or so they never have to kick on unless I open it for some reason.

I use the lightbulb thing, it's easier to keep the temps stable. Or I throw a piece of bubblewrap over the window. Your temps are perfect, I think. I keep mine 25-30% as well, and 60-70% for lockdown, probably close to 67%. I'm setting eggs tonite.

 

[luvmychixandducks]

Day 18 - We're in lockdown. I candled the 42 eggs in the bator with a turner and got 8 that were clears. Everybody else got put into the second incubator, wqter added and cover shut up tight.
Hopefully the second bator will be calibrated properly from last hatching attempt- as I'm told not to bother with the eggs at all for the next three days.
So I know something was happening with the remaining 34 eggs.
If I get half to hatch - and if half of those are hens- I'll have what I started out hoping for- a group of less than a dozen hens from docile friendly stock- Buff Orpington and Black australop foundation birds.