HELP! Dry incubation method? Day 1, humidity changes! RARE, PRECIOUS EGGS!

[Aquabubblez13]

I have read and heard so many great things about the dry incubation method. I've been hearing that people have had GREAT hatches- 98% and even 100%. Let me tell you how this started. I ordered 6 rare Ayam Cemani eggs and they arrived 2 days ago. We let them settle for about 32 hours. We had just got a circulated-air incubator model 4200. We ran it for about 2 hours and it stayed 99.5 degrees and 58% humidity (which is perfect according to the manual). Once they were all in, a few minutes later the humidity went too low (50%). So we added a few tablespoons of water. It was obviously too much because it raised to 80% in a few minutes. So we opened the lid up for a few seconds and it went down back to about 60%. But then the temperature dropped to 98%. So we raised the heat a little but 30 seconds later it was at 102 degrees! We kept on having to lower & raise them until it was perfect. It does sound crazy but all this only happened in about 30 minutes. Then I finally got the temperature settings to stay at 99.5 degrees! YAY! But I still had humidity issues. It was WAY too high, then WAY too low, so I drained all the water out. Then 10 min. later it was too low. So I added a TINY bit. The humidity detector (or whatever it's called) wasn't raising, so I added more! MISTAKE. It was too high 75%! So I propped the lid up half an inch and fell asleep. (it was 1:00 AM). About 2 hours later I checked and the humidity was at 30%!
I was worried cause that was too low! But apparently not, if you are using the "Dry Incubation Method"!
The humidity and temperature was normal and stayed that way after that!

I'm really fascinated on the hatch rates when people use the dry incubation method. I want to switch to this method but I'm worried it is too late because I have had the humidity at 59% for about 12 hours. Can I lower the humidity to 30% and keep it that way? Or is it too late? Right now, it is at 59% humidity. And the temperature is at 99.5-100 degrees.

Do you think I should lower the humidity to 30-35%, or is it too late since it has been 55-60% for about 10 hours?
These eggs are too expensive and rare to not hatch! I bought the last order from this person so this is it! I need the safest, and most guaranteed hatch rate!

 

[MeepBeep]

Relax, chickens can't control ambient humidity when nesting, so when it's 100% humidity and raining one day and 50% humidity and hot sun the next the eggs get different levels of humidity under said nesting chicken... Mother Nature accounts for this, and thus an 'average' humidity level is what you should be more focused on, not a spike here and there...

As for the best way to hatch, well there are 1001 best ways, people get high hatch rates doing it one way while others utterly fail doing it the same way, there is no single best way... There are of course guidelines and you should review those, in general if you follow the guidelines you will get decent hatch rates but like everything it's honestly to be blunt a roll of the dice from 100% hatch to 0% hatch sometimes, especially if shipping and thus unknown handling practices were used......

 

[Aquabubblez13]

So it would be ok if I lowered the humidity to 30% and kept it that way then?
I would like to use the dry incubation method I might try it. i'm relieved that the humidity spikes aren't as bad as I thought, so it's the average humidity levels! Good. I will still keep eye.

 

[MeepBeep]

So it would be ok if I lowered the humidity to 30% and kept it that way then?
I would like to use the dry incubation method I might try it. i'm relieved that the humidity spikes aren't as bad as I thought, so it's the average humidity levels! Good. I will still keep eye.

As long as you lower the humidly after the high spike you should be fine... The best way to know if the humidity levels are good is to candle the eggs regularly and monitor air cell size changes, as well as weighing the eggs regularly...

 

[Aquabubblez13]

Thank you so much that was very helpful!

I've lowered the humidity to 35% an I plan on keeping it 30-40%. What day should I start to candle them? I hear you shouldn't open the incubator for 5 days. Is that when I should start checking?

 

[MeepBeep]

I break all the established rules, so if you are asking for advice on when to candle or about lock down I not going to give you the answers that are popular with rule followers

I candle, after 24 hours and then ever other day generally all the way to hatch day, so I can monitor who has internally pipped, and I never do a lock down... As for keeping the incubator shut for X amount of day, if you have an auto turner you can get away with that, I personally have been hand turning so keeping it shut is out of the question...

 

[slagoon]

Quote:
I too am very new to this but as far as the "don't open for 5 days" (From the 20-30 articles I've read) that depends on the incubator. If your incubator turns the eggs then that's fine. If it doesn't then you will need to manually turn the eggs. Try to think about what happens in nature (similar to MeepBeep's note about the natural changes in humidity). The broody hen still needs to get off the next at least once a day to eat, drink, and evacuate so a small amount of time with the incubator open will not hurt them. Its the 12 hours or 4 days with it open that are the problem. Another thing that opening the incubator helps with is early detection of nearly exploded eggs...if you open the incubator and smell "hard boiled with a touch of gross" smell then you need to find the culprit and remove the egg - that one is a goner. As far as candling there are mixed comments about it. Some people say to just not do it...it doesn't really help anything except tell you that one hasn't formed, but handling the eggs too often (especially without washing hands and drying completely first) can introduce bacteria. Others want to follow the chicken's whole birth as a woman does with her baby's ultrasounds. It gives you an idea of how far the chick is progressing in its growth. In the end the chickens will either hatch or they won't and candling will not cause you to have a successful hatch. I know these are precious eggs, rare and expensive, but all we can do is our best to recreate what nature does so wonderfully on its own.