Dry Incubation Method = Some of Our Best Hatches

[greenfamilyfarms]

Over the last few hatches, we have tried the Dry Incubation Method and have had wonderful success with our hatches. In the past, I have added water to the incubator every 2-3 days to keep it moist inside. I was starting to have trouble with chicks pipping and not making it out of the egg, dying during the last few days of incubation, or hatching out weak and/or sticky, and even a few hatches that were 3 days too early. So, we tried something different. We still used an egg turner, but I don't add ANY water to the incubator until the last 3-5 days of incubation. The temperature (99.5 degrees F) seems to be much easier to regulate this way.

Here are some articles about Dry Incubation that may help some of you wanting to try this method for yourselves:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html
http://www.courtneypoultry.co.uk/id17.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/51457/how_to_incubate_chicken_eggs.html?cat=7

Happy Hatching!

 

[trilyn]

I did this also, after a couple of really bad hatches and I found it worked great for me. Our house has a tendency to be on the damp/humid side so we had no problem with this method at all.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Good grief!!! What are you thinking????? Don't you realize I have 22 eggs sitting in my kitchen right now that I was planning to boil today???? Now you've gone and done it.

My last couple of hatches were HORRIBLE. Terrible. No luck trials that failed miserably. But now, thanks to your posting here, I have hope...my humidity was really skewed all the time lately...

Dry hatch you say? Thanks a lot. I was not even going to get my incubator back out of the closet until spring 2011. Now you've gone and done it and I am having bad bad thoughts...


May as well resign myself...and fire up the old incubator...and find another means to pacify my husband when he comes in questioning me... lol

Seriously though, your post has given me new hope and I am thinking I may try one final hatch for the year using the dry hatching method...just to take the bad taste of the last few out of my mouth.

 

[Rozzie]

BigDaddy'sGurl :

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!


May as well resign myself...and fire up the old incubator...and find another means to pacify my husband when he comes in questioning me... lol

HA HA. Just set it up in a guest bedroom, craft room, basement, closet...wherever he doesn't go.

Then, when the chicks hatch, just look surprised that he didn't know> GEE, the incubator has only been running for THREE WEEKS, dear...how could you have missed that?​

 

[Charles07]

We hatch between 65% and 75% consistently, using this method.

Our lowest rate was exactly 50% and our highest was around 90%.

The humidity in our garage may be the contributing factor. It maintains 35%-45%, year round.

No water is added until lockdown, and then we keep it between 55% and 65% humidity.

 

[Mrsfoote]

Quote:
So I'm curious now just added eggs yesterday and I'm doing a staggared hatch and the guy said to run it dry the first week the 2nd batch goes in so that it will make up for the highness when the first batch goes into lockdown.

What does your humidity look like when you run your incubator at 99 the first days?

 

[mothersin2ition]

HA HA. Just set it up in a guest bedroom, craft room, basement, closet...wherever he doesn't go.

Then, when the chicks hatch, just look surprised that he didn't know> GEE, the incubator has only been running for THREE WEEKS, dear...how could you have missed that?

I have done that more times than I care to admit

 

[halo]

I used to obsess about humidity; now I dont even check it anymore. The egglets spend their first 18 days in the Hova...I add water maybe twice during that time, if I think about it. And we are really really dry right now. From day 19 to 21, they move to the Brinsea. I fill up the water troughs, shut the top, and thats it until they hatch. I dont even use a hygrometer anymore. No more sticky chicks, no more pip and die. I have found that the best hatching method is the "benign neglect" method.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

In 3 years we have always done dry incubation with great results. Once the eggs go to the hatcher then we have a cup in there with some water in it. But we always have 80% to 100% hatches. But it might also help that we live in Florida where it is always humid.

 

[Olive Hill]

I'm busy and absent minded. I'm lucky if I remember to add water to the incubator twice over the course of a hatch. So far, it's not been a problem. I fill up the trays, per the directions, on lockdown, but otherwise don't fret too much about the humidity (don't even have a hygrometer in there) I add water when/if I remember.