I do also dry hatch. It doesn’t mean totally dry, it just means you don’t add any water until the final 3 days. It’s very humid where I live, and my duck egg shells are quite dense. Any water added during initial incubation doesn’t allow them to lose enough internal moisture and the air cells don’t get large enough.
I would suggest at least starting out dry. Then after 10 days or so, check your air cells and see if they are increasing well enough, or too much, and adjust from there. Slowing down the moisture loss from inside the egg is easier to control by adding water later on, than by trying to catch up the growth if they don’t lose enough.
Good luck, and keep trying. They are definitely worth it!
