Lockdown tonight - what do you do?

[BHep]

I incubate dry. No water at all, until lock down. Just fluctuates with the weather. Then I keep it at least 50%. Works for me.

 

[rmh0508]

The last time i incubated I did the dry hatch method and my hatch rate went up by 17%. I did add a little water if the humidity got below 20 just in case the I bumped up to 60-70 for lockdown. Still new at this too but it seemed to help my hatch and my chicks hatched clean where as the first hatch I had a nasty mess in the bator.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Quote:
Me too! Same, same.

 

[williamsl77]

Alright... I'll give the dry method a try this time. I weighed the eggs and didn't put a lot of water in the first week and they seemed to have lost a little more than 5% weight by that time. I had been having humidities range from 10% to 40% that first week. Second week, I kept humidity up between 40 and 50% most of the time (though not always). I only bumped it up to 70% because that was my understanding of what you should do for lockdown. I have read that it doesn't need to be that high until hatching actually starts. There are so many opinions here that it can be difficult to sort out. That being said, I'm not sure that humidity is that high under a hen, right?

Anyway... so now I'm curious when I might start seeing rocking. Day 19 today. Every now and then I think I see a little movement, but I can't tell if I am making that up or not. 8)

I have a 2nd batch of eggs in the incubator now on Day 11 and I haven't been keeping that humidity as high.

Ok... so now... when will they rock?? And how do I know if they are positioned right... I put them in with air cells as up as possible, but I'm not 100% sure... they will get themselve in the right position, right?

Thanks!

 

[BHep]

Relax and enjoy.....

The chicks will position themselves as needed. When they start hatching they will knock the other eggs all over the place. It will be fine.
The longer you stare at the eggs, you will start imagining they are moving.

I do recommend the dry incubation, then you do not need to worry/stress about added water until the end. All the stress takes away from the awesome experience.

 

[chickee]

It is my understanding after reading the Dry Hatch Method instructions, that you start your humidity at 40% and let it fall to no less than 20%, then add enough water to get it back up to 40%, let it fall again to no less than 20%, then repeat. In some states the humidity naturally stays higher. In states where the humidity stays lower, the dry hatch method is not as successful. I follow the instructions that came with my incubator and keep the humidity at 40% day one through day 20, then up the humidity to 65% on day 20 and I get 100% hatches with my own eggs. Shipped eggs are another story. There are too many variables having to do with the health of the parent birds and how the eggs are handled by the post office

Don't worry about your chicks positioning themselves correctly. Most will, but sometimes one won't. Most of mine that are upsidedown still have hatched on their own. It is hilarious to see the top of the shell pop off and little chicken feet sticking straight up in the air!

I know it is hard not to worry, but it won't change the outcome, so have fun with it and enjoy the miracle of life!

 

[chickmanna]

I've read to leave the fan on to help dry the chicks.

 

[williamsl77]

Thanks everyone! I'm so excited... hope this goes well!!

 

[Gypsy07]

The thing you've read about turning the fan off is probably referring to incubations where a separate hatcher is used. People who are incubating different batches of eggs and starting them off on different days often run more than one incubator. The idea is that one incubator (or more) has lower humidity (for days 1-18 incubation) and a separate incubator has higher humidity (for days 19+ lockdown and hatching). This incubator is called a hatcher, and some people like to do their hatching in a still air incubator, as they think the fan makes it more likely that the eggs will dry out and have problems hatching. So they will have their eggs in a fan assisted bator up till lockdown, then they'll transfer them to a still air hatcher. If you're doing your incubating and hatching all in the one bator, you shouldn't turn the fan off, as temperature requirements for each bator are slightly different, so it would mess with the temperature of your eggs.

Secondly, 71% humidity is not too high for lockdown and will not cause your chicks to drown unless your humidity has been consistently too high throughout your whole incubation. (And if that were the case, a lower lockdown humidity probably wouldn't prevent them drowning anyway.) If your eggs have lost the correct amount of moisture going into lockdown, you can have the humidity up as high as 90-95% without it harming your chicks. I can tell you this for a fact because I have experimented extensively with it. I'm not recommending you try it, as 65% is usually high enough for lockdown and successful hatching, I'm just saying that if it were to happen by accident, it wouldn't necessarily be anything to worry about. Also, if you have a messy hatch ending up with excess fluid and gunk all over your bator, that's a sure sign that your humidity has been consistently too high throughout the first 18 days of incubation, and actually has little to do with your lockdown humidity.

Hope that info maybe helps you a bit!

 

[terrilhb]

And sit on your hands.