I just got my Dickey's incubator about a month ago. I had my first hatch in it this week. While it was very successful I did have some shrink wrapped chicks. I have found that if i fill the entire humidity tray up the humidity is too high (about 68-70%) so I have been using a smaller tray to keep the humidity where it was suggested in the instructions ( about 55%). For those of you that own a Dickey's- have you had this issue? Do you just keep the tray full? What is your normal humidity? I had about an 50% hatch on my shipped eggs and about 80% on my own. Which for me is still pretty good. But I have someone that wants me to hatch for them and I want to make sure i do the best I can for them.
I had the same issues when I first got my Dickey. Mr. Dickey recommends humidity at 55% the entire time, but I found that didn't work for me. Now, I use a very small tupperware tray or nothing at all to keep humidity around 35% the first 18 days....then I put in the big pan & bump it up to 65% the final 3 days. I always have (weekly) staggered hatches, so the lower humidity lets the eggs that are in the turners a chance to dry out before it's hatch time for them. You can also control your humidity with the vents in back: To raise...close top vent & open bottom vent To lower: open top vent & close bottom You'll have to play with how much closed or how much open works for you. Tip on the shrinkwrapping.....before opening the door, turn the bator off with the switch on the cord. That kills the fan so all your humid air doesn't blow out. Work quickly, shut door & turn it back on. Good luck to you!! It's an awesome incubator but like all others...ya gotta figure out what works best for you!
I've been keeping both vents 1/2 opened all the time. I do not add water unless im hatching in it. Humidity stays around 20-22% or so without water. When I hatch I fill up the pan and it gets about 50%, but I do mist the eggs during the hatch a couple times.
I keep my final three day humidity between 60-65% in my Dickey. The two vents in the back can be used to adjust interior humidity levels by opening or closing them. Just don't close them all the way as there needs to be some air exchange.
