Dry hatching

[TheMisfitRanch]

Just curious about everyone's experience with dry hatching.
My first attempt at hatching didn't go well at all. I put 40 eggs in and got 2 babies. I was so focused on humidity being perfect. My friend who raised birds way longer than me suggested dry hatching so I figured I might as well try. My hatch rate went up to 75% the first time I tried it. 90% the second time. I just put little water in the reservoir once a week. Then I up it to 80% for lockdown.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Just curious about everyone's experience with dry hatching.
My first attempt at hatching didn't go well at all. I put 40 eggs in and got 2 babies. I was so focused on humidity being perfect. My friend who raised birds way longer than me suggested dry hatching so I figured I might as well try. My hatch rate went up to 75% the first time I tried it. 90% the second time. I just put little water in the reservoir once a week. Then I up it to 80% for lockdown.

I do the dry incubation, I prefer callingit the low humidity incubation...lol I run at 30-35% first 17 days and 75% at hatch.(If I can run completely dry and have my bator stay above 25% I do run completly dry, if it doesn't I add a wet spong which usually holds it right about 30%) I love it. I always recommend it to newbies, especially ones using the styro bators. My last hatch was 92%. The first hatch I did using the low humidity method was 81%, but I also had half the number of eggs in there as I did with the last hatch...lol The method I use is in the link in my signature. I swear by it.

 

[TheMisfitRanch]

It's definitely less stressful, too lol

 

[AmyLynn2374]

It's definitely less stressful, too lol

Yes. I cringe when someone says they are using 50%-60% humidity the first 17 days. I can just see little chicken bodies dead in the shells, and the stress of all that work trying to maintain the humidity.

 

[TheMisfitRanch]

Most people learn from the Internet. I'm guilty! The internet will ruin your brain with the 3 million different ways they say to hatch eggs lol

 

[scflock]

It seems the dry incubating works very well in the styrobators. In the Brinsea, not so much

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Most people learn from the Internet. I'm guilty! The internet will ruin your brain with the 3 million different ways they say to hatch eggs lol

So true. That's why SC and I started the thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/978237/she-said-he-said-whos-right-whos-wrong-no-one to show there's many ways/philosophies to hatching and if they are working for you, they aren't wrong. Its a matter of finding what works for you. He and I are pretty much polor opposites in philosophies and in equiptment itself, yet we have similiar rates. We try to encourage people to get different opinions and methods and try them to find what works and to not be judgemental to someone else's method because it's different than yours. You can harrass them in fun about it, but that's it...lol