Day 20 no peeping.Dry incubation didn't work?

[ChickBro]

Ok, so this is my 2nd time hatching eggs. This time I decided to try dry incubation, I set six eggs on the 23 of march and all are developing. My temperature stays at around 99.5 - 100.0 degrees. My humidity is normally around 23% - 30% then on day 18 bump it up to 50% - 60%. So, I got up so excited to see if there were any peeping....And there were none .Is this bad? Was my humidity too low? I was told to only put water in if it gets down to 15%. Please help.

 

[ChickBro]

And before anyone asks they are not in the automatic turner anymore.

 

[Mellowmalt]

Hi, I doubt if you had asked what humidity to use on BYC anybody would have advised only to fill it if it gets down to 15%.
So yes 15% is bad. Even 30% is bad in my opinion.

Some people are I would even use the word obsessed with incubating as dry as possible. It must work for some but I candle my eggs and monitor their development and adjust the humidity accordingly and I never go under 40%

Some big eggs might be able to tolerate lower, the crucial word being tolerate. Why expose your eggs to the extreme they can handle.

They truly can handle a wide range but 15% is the lowest it can be.

There might be nothing to worry about but you should have been candling the eggs to check they were not drying out too much during incubation.

If they dry too much they can get stuck and it means one has to help out the chicks hatching.

You should never trust random advice on the internet tbh, some people do incubate dry because their incubator is designed to hold a good humdity even without a water tray but if it isn't then a too low humidity will be bad yes.

 

[Smileybans]

I have a still air incubator that I have never added water to. For some reason the humidity in it stays around 20%. I never hear peeping from my eggs until day 21 or later. I do monitor the air cell in all my incubators but have never had to add water to them. How does the air cell look in your eggs? Big? Small? I’ve done dry incubations and had air cells be too small. I’ve actually stopped putting water in my incubators because chicks were drowning in their eggs.

 

[Mellowmalt]

that is a good point smiley, I think in still air incubators it works better because there is no fan, eggs need to dry which a fan does (think what a hairdryer does) but a fan + low humidity has not seemed like a good idea for me.

 

[americanchicks]

With incubation and humidity you will find a lot of different opinions. I really think it is a learning experience. That you just have to find what works for you. For me I keep it around 30%. Make sure you hydrometer is calibrated. It's only day 20 so don't worry too much. Just keep the humidity up while hatching and wait. Happy hatching!

 

[ChickBro]

Hi, I doubt if you had asked what humidity to use on BYC anybody would have advised only to fill it if it gets down to 15%.
So yes 15% is bad. Even 30% is bad in my opinion.

Some people are I would even use the word obsessed with incubating as dry as possible. It must work for some but I candle my eggs and monitor their development and adjust the humidity accordingly and I never go under 40%

Some big eggs might be able to tolerate lower, the crucial word being tolerate. Why expose your eggs to the extreme they can handle.

They truly can handle a wide range but 15% is the lowest it can be.

There might be nothing to worry about but you should have been candling the eggs to check they were not drying out too much during incubation.

If they dry too much they can get stuck and it means one has to help out the chicks hatching.

You should never trust random advice on the internet tbh, some people do incubate dry because their incubator is designed to hold a good humdity even without a water tray but if it isn't then a too low humidity will be bad yes.

I do exactly what Smiley said.

 

[Kiki]

Ok, so this is my 2nd time hatching eggs. This time I decided to try dry incubation, I set six eggs on the 23 of march and all are developing. My temperature stays at around 99.5 - 100.0 degrees. My humidity is normally around 23% - 30% then on day 18 bump it up to 50% - 60%. So, I got up so excited to see if there were any peeping....And there were none .Is this bad? Was my humidity too low? I was told to only put water in if it gets down to 15%. Please help.

How many of your thermometer have been calibrated?
Did you salt test your humidity gauge?

 

[Kiki]

Ok, so this is my 2nd time hatching eggs. This time I decided to try dry incubation, I set six eggs on the 23 of march and all are developing. My temperature stays at around 99.5 - 100.0 degrees. My humidity is normally around 23% - 30% then on day 18 bump it up to 50% - 60%. So, I got up so excited to see if there were any peeping....And there were none .Is this bad? Was my humidity too low? I was told to only put water in if it gets down to 15%. Please help.

What kind of eggs are you incubating?

 

[ChickBro]

How many of your thermometer have been calibrated?
Did you salt test your humidity gauge?

I have not calibrated my thermometer but the last time I hatched eggs all eggs developed and 2/3 hatched.I have no idea what the salt test is.