Dry Hatching

[First To Hatch]

I'm sure this is probably the 100th thread on dry hatching but after reading this awhile ago https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html I became interested...all those fully formed chicks that don't hatch or the ones that died because of the humidity spike, and then the ones that are born with curly toes... what are your opinions of it does it really work? If so does it work well without adding water the days prior to hatching, because I feel like thats when curly toes happens. I've read humidity is what causes it...

 

[wilsonpaaul]

Hi I too had the same problem any help please

 

[PunkinPeep]

I'm not very experienced at this, but i followed that method pretty closely on my last hatch, and i have 22 healthy chicks out of 24 eggs.

I have a hovabator, and i used 2 wet dish rags to keep the humidity between 40 and 50, until day 18. On day 18, i added a third wet dish rag to get it between 50 and 55. After that i added some water by means of a straw through the center vent hole.

I had one chick hatch who couldn't walk. I don't know exactly what "curly toes" looks like except for the obvious, and i didn't notice that he had curly toes. His feet seemed fine; he just couldn't keep them under his body.

The 24th egg had stopped developing early on.

I have never tried to use any other method, so i don't have data for comparison.