Dry or not to dry? First hatch on magic fly /joanel12

[Blue_dingo]

Hi y’all, I got my first set of eggs coming and I’ve been messing with my magic fly incubator. I have a thermometer/hygrometer in there to verify temp and RH and Ive found i can get to a couple of humidity settings for incubating pretty easily at around 25% and 35% RH.

So, do i roll with 20-25% humidity w no water added? Or 35-40% with a small cup of water? Dry or not to dry?
Thanks!!!

 

[MGG]

I always do 35-40 percent because tyats what works for me, but it isn't the same for everyone. It varies a lot. Do what you think is best for your situation. You can do it dry if you want to, it shouldn't hurt anything. The most reliable way of telling what works is just marking and monitoring the air cell growth. I have that incubator and i really like it, but the manual is awful if you haven't already found that out, lol. I learned pretty much everything about it from threads I read on here before I joined. Good luck!

 

[JaeG]

Definitely keep an eye on your air cells. They are your best indicator as to whether your humidity is too high, too low or just right. If they look too big (search 'egg air cell chart' on google images and heaps will pop up) increase the humidity. If they look too small decrease the humidity, but keep checking them and adjust as needed. I incubate my quail eggs on a really high humidity because that works for me. I live in a very humid climate so I figure the eggs are set up for those conditions.

 

[OzQuailNewbie]

how often do you check the air sack? I’m worried that I’d be dropping the temp for too long. My humidity gauge is saying it’s at 30-32%

 

[JaeG]

In a natural setting the sitting hen takes a break for up to half an hour every day. In that time she will eat, get a drink, dust bathe and relieve herself. Eggs naturally have a cool down period daily until they are very close to hatching at which point the hen does not leave her nest. So a brief drop in temperature is not going to affect your eggs.

Eggs can be candled every day if you want to but most people do it weekly. On egg cell charts the approximate position is noted at days 7, 14 and 18 (just before 'lockdown').

 

[OzQuailNewbie]

In a natural setting the sitting hen takes a break for up to half an hour every day. In that time she will eat, get a drink, dust bathe and relieve herself. Eggs naturally have a cool down period daily until they are very close to hatching at which point the hen does not leave her nest. So a brief drop in temperature is not going to affect your eggs.

Eggs can be candled every day if you want to but most people do it weekly. On egg cell charts the approximate position is noted at days 7, 14 and 18 (just before 'lockdown').

Ok great! Thanks for the info

 

[Old McRonald]

For me personally I have great luck with dry hatching for my orpingtons, I didn't even do anything when I dropped below 20% humidity. However I was weighing my eggs and monitoring weight loss and they were right on track. My ducks and quail however need to be higher than that so I have to keep it around 30+. Again I weigh eggs before setting and write it on them and monitor the loss during incubation so I can adjust as needed without losing whole batches like I did before. I spent hours building spreadsheets with start weights ranging from 20-65 grams for chickens from seramas to orpingtons and 25-55 grams for call ducks. Due to longer incubation periods I did both so any given day I can weigh them and know what my target is. 13% total weight is the target for all eggs for proper development of the embryo.

 

[Lori J]

I also have a magic fly and my hygrometer has been telling me 65% humidity when I add the water recommended. Have you tried it by adding the water as well? If so maybe my hygrometer is off. I know after two days when the water dried up the hygrometer said that the humidity levels were 35%. i’ve had several successful hatching’s before I even thought to check that humidity levels.... but it seems like that’s a pretty big fluctuation in humidity! any tips or have you only done dry hatching?

 

[MGG]

I also have a magic fly and my hygrometer has been telling me 65% humidity when I add the water recommended. Have you tried it by adding the water as well? If so maybe my hygrometer is off. I know after two days when the water dried up the hygrometer said that the humidity levels were 35%. i’ve had several successful hatching’s before I even thought to check that humidity levels.... but it seems like that’s a pretty big fluctuation in humidity! any tips or have you only done dry hatching?

Are you just pouring water in the bottom? That doesn't work well at all, unless maybe you live in the desert. What you have to do to get the humidity in the desired range is use little cups full of water. There is too much surface area when you add water straight into the bottom. Put small cups of water under the tray, and dry up any water in the bottom still. Any small cups will work, play around with it. I use those little medicine cups, like the ones you use to pour Nyquil into.

 

[Lori J]

Are you just pouring water in the bottom? That doesn't work well at all, unless maybe you live in the desert. What you have to do to get the humidity in the desired range is use little cups full of water. There is too much surface area when you add water straight into the bottom. Put small cups of water under the tray, and dry up any water in the bottom still. Any small cups will work, play around with it. I use those little medicine cups, like the ones you use to pour Nyquil into.

Thank you! of course to do that we will have to remove the egg tray because we have 12 eggs and there’s no room up top! How many medicine-sized cups do you recommend using? And how often do you refill them