Mass death

[starryeyes]

Ok I am at a loss here i need some advice. So i decided my second time hatching to go the dry incubation way or lower humidity for days 1 to 18 it was 35 to 40% day 18 moved eggs into hovabator humidity 60 to 65% had 3 chicks hatch 1 hatched fine to piped and ziped and then was so slimy he dried glued to shell. So i took warm wash cloth and got him unstuck. The other same thing but he had some yolk still attached. So i had a bad feeling so i candled a few eggs and they were dead. Then one piped and never ziped i cracked it open he had drowned. So i would think to high of humidity but how can that be when i ran it low till day 18 and everything i read says like 65 even on a sticky note here on BYC. I have 8 dozen more in a homemade bator and 1 dozen are due to go in hovabator which i use for hatching. I am now afraid to move them> I mean 34 eggs went in fine on day 18 and only 3 chicks thus far and pretty sure the rest of eggs are drowned as i checked 5 and all 5 were dead. I need advice i cant handle another mass death.

Starry

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

sorry to hear that starry! I'll

for the rest...

wish i could offer some wisdom, but i am incubating my first eggs now

 

[kyeschicks]

Ok this is how I do it and I have great hatches. Days 1-18 humidity was kept ranging from 30%-45% and temp. ranging from 99.5 - 102.5 f. (the temp. was kept like that for all 21 days) But keep in Mind that I had a Still-Air Incubator. It depends which incubator your using.

 

[chickygirl2]

I would keep humidity in the 40 % range even for hatching. If the chicks were sticky, it is too high.

 

[Goose and Fig]

I've been using a still air. There were a few humidity spikes during days 1-18 because it's so muggy here. The last 3 days I add more water and a wet washlcoth, plug the holes until it gets to about 70%, and then remove 1 plug for ventilation. I'm looking at a possible 100% hatch this time. The only thing is the chicks seem to take a long time to dry. Or ,maybe I'm just impatient.

Why don't you try NOT moving all of the eggs- see if you get a better rate on the ones that haven't switched bators.

 

[starryeyes]

My hova bators have fans and so does the big homemade one. The reason i move the eggs is that the homemade one is not made to hatch they would fall out of the trays. And i have stagered hatchs in there so i could not increase humidity. I guess i could leave them till they pip? Or maybe i will move them and lower hatching humidity to 50%? I dont know anymore I have silkie eggs in the homemade bator if they die i will literaly cry the silkie has only layed 8 eggs in 3 mons they are the ones i realy want.
Thanks everyone for the help

Starry

 

[starryeyes]

well i moved 11 eggs over to hovabator keeping humidity lower its around 55 instead of 65 so we shall see.

 

[kyeschicks]

Quote:
it should take them about 4-6 hours to dry

 

[DANNY]

I am still trying to figure out this dry hatching. Why would you do that? It's not that much trouble to put water in an incubator. All incubators are equipped with water pans and trays for a reason. All commercial hatcheries have water sources. I do understand in very humid climates you might get by with that but when the humidity is 90% outside it is only about 45% in my incubator. Most incubator problems are temperature related usually low.

 

[starryeyes]

Not dry hatching just days 1 to 18 u use less humidity keep it low. here is a thread explains it way better then me https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html