Dry incubation question

[opihiman911]

I have decided to try the dry incubation method mentioned in the "how to " section of this board. I have been good and haven't opened my forced air foam bator once since I've stared. My temps have been good between 99.3 & 99.7 in a water wiggler. I have a sponge in there that I add water to using tubing and a syringe. When I add water, the humidiy will go up to 40-45%, then in a couple days it will go down to 28-30% before I add anymore water, just as the instructions say.
Today is day 14 and I was going to open the bator up and candle the eggs tonight and get rid of any clear one. I was also going to add another water tube so I can add water to the channels later on.
I was wondering what humidity should I try and achieve for days 18-21? All the instruction say if if it is below 65% add water to the channels. Is it just like normal incubation and you want 70-80% for the last days? That would make sense since you are adding more water if it is below 65%.
I'm so far having a good hatch, no smelly or seeping eggs, and everything staying stable. I just don't want to mess it up on the last couple days and have to chicks get stuck. I'll let you know what I find tonight when I candle them.

Aloha,
Cory

 

[silkiechicken]

Good luck, I think per those instructions you want it up at the same as you would for normal hatches. I dry hatch mine, but keep humidity high initially.

 

[lilshadow]

Hello,
I have a quick question please....In the process of making my incubator I got impatient, and went and bought one. It is a still air bator model 9200. It has a thermometer, but I didn't see anything to read humidity. It just says to fill up water rings, and to make sure they do not run out of water. The guy at the co op said he has used it without a fan, and his hatch rate is 3 out of 4 hatches. Here is my question...Do I need to put a water wriggler in there with a thermometer that also has a humidity reading on it or go without one. I know it may sound silly but I am only testing 2 eggs until I get the hang of this.

 

[tiki244]

yes go with water wiggler and thermometer and hydrometer. and document as you go so you can remember what you did


Silkie chicken; could you please explain exactly what you mean by keep humidity high? TY

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, it probably works in this area because the ambient humidity is in the 60-100 range... or raining. For the first 10-14 days I fill the whole bator bottom with water, then let it dry out till they all hatch My guess is humidity is in the 70's for the first two weeks, and then down into the 40's just before hatch. I don't measure humidity and just look at air cells to be about what I am used to seeing. I don't recommend this though to beginners as you have to keep an eye on the air cell growth rate and have enough hatches down till you know what you are looking for... and by that point generally have figured out how your own set up works!

 

[lilshadow]

Quote:
what do you mean by air cell?

 

[tiki244]

inside the egg on the rounded end there is an aircell and as the chick grows the aircell gets bigger; you can see it when you candle especially the farther along the chicks are. If the air cell is too small then the humidity should be lowered. there is a link on the learning pages I think where it shows age of incubation and where aircellshould be at