dry incubation

[hdowden]

ok i have some eggs ordered and am going to try dry incubation since my last ones were to wet even though the hydrometer through out the incubation said huidity was perfect maybe a spike or 2 and thats it. these eggs are going to be d'uccle (bantams)

so was woundering who has done this and what was your susess rate with it.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Love love love dry incubation! It's all I use now, even with my quail eggs. I don't add any water at all until at lockdown. Right now, my humidity in the bator is 25-30% and at lockdown I keep it between 60-70% and have had great success. If you keep your temps stabilized, you are going to love this method.

 

[OkChickens]

I only use dry incubation and I love it! I do not put any water in the incubator at all. The humidity stays about 13-15% inside the bator. When I put them in the hatcher on day 19 I bump the humidity up to 30-35%/. I have ever had a bad hatch while using dry incubation. I also don't have to worry about filling those water trays in my cabinet incubator. I only hatch Large Fowl and I want to get a few bantams next year! Good Luck!

Nate

 

[hdowden]

thank you. i'm going to have some bcm eggs in the bator to with them and am hoping for a better hatch rate. last hatch i would of had 9 but 6 were to wet and drowned in shell, one was to wet and deformed, and my other 2 that hatched are doing great. so excited about these eggs

 

[runsw/scissors]

I only use the dry method myself and really prefer it! No worrying about humidity as well as temp.

I have had very good rates using this method.

 

[quintinp]

I do 20-30% for my Rhode Island Red and Barred Rock eggs the first 18 days, but for banties, I would use 30-40% the first 18 days.

 

[ziggy1964]

I'm on day 9 for hatching 6 Aylesbury duck eggs,
The chap got them off rekons on 40% humidity , I had around 30% relative humidity in my home made bator
And I just added some water and it shot just past 50.% I'm thinking of taking it out now !
Dry or not I guess for the last three days I should up it ?

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Firstly, what did your hygrometer say the humidity was for your last hatch?
Secondly, did you calibrate your hygrometer before using it?

Dry incubation works great for some people but it's not for everybody. I tried it once, added no water, my humidity sat just slightly above 30% the whole time, I didn't candle between days 6 and 18, and when I was ready for lockdown the air cells were easily twice as big as they should have been and my embryos were all dried out and extremely dead, which was rather horrible to see when I cracked the eggs open...

 

[tmoore8595]

Dry incubation works great for me.
35 to 40% for the first 18 days and 75 to 80% for the last three days.

 

[chickmanna]

I'm going to try "dry" incubation also as I'm finding here in WA that the normal humidity out in the mud room is about 40%-50%. I'd actually like it to be a little dryer. What is the humidity likely to do once the eggs are added? Is it okay to vent the bator to lessen humidity until lockdown?