My dry incubation experiment--ANYONE ELSE TRIED THIS?!

[P0U1TRYP3RS0N]

Okay, so I have some birds I call the "bionic" chickens--five hens (three barred rocks, two red sex links) and one demented rooster that are tough as nails. The hens are several years old, and decided that now's as good of time as any to start laying like crazy. So we get 4-5 giant brown eggs a day from them. I decided to put some eggs in the bator last month and give it a go. I pamped the bater, tried to keep the humidity stable, etc, and then when we got to lockdown, added little extra water pans cuz the hydrometer said the humidity wasnt high enough (in uber dry arizona in winter, its no real suprise). So damp paper towels and socks, water bowls. etc until the humidity was optimal. AND THEN.....ONLY ONE HATCHED! And I had to help him because he was so dry and stuck and weakening (hes an adorable three week old brat now

)
Anyways, as an experiment (or being lazy), I decided for once to incubate without fussing over it. So I got a more eggs from my bionic birds, fired up the bator again, stuck em all in the turner, and added water to the trays. Then, I NEVER added anymore water. For the three weeks. I took the turner out when I was supposed to, and since Ive been running thru midterms like a chicken with my head cut off (ok, ok, pun), didnt candle. I stuck em on the wire rack, filled the water resevoirs and kind of forgot them. They were due to hatch wednesday. Nothing happened...then yesterday I got home from work and a fluffy lil puffball is rolling around the incubator. Today, another one just popped out. And I know the humidity's low in there--probably in the 20% range. The whole incubation period the humidity was at aprox. 18%.
IM ASTOUNDED. This was the EASIEST incubation I've ever seen. But I'm puzzled. I'd always heard too low of humidity would either deform them or shrink wrap them, or they would pip and not be able to zip.
So has anyone else tried this "dry" incubation method? How did it work for you?
P.S.--i dont typically incubate like a lazy bum. just this once. LOL

 

[wolftracks]

Congrats! I was thinking about doing this also with some of my own eggs. Now I really want to try it.

 

[muscovy14312]

When I incubate my eggs i just keep the spots in the incubator full of water all through the hatch and usually have great hatches, this last time i increased the humidity and only 10 out of 24 of my eggs hatched. The batch i have in there now I am going to just fill the spots in the incubator already there for water.

 

[isabrowneyedsue]

i just did my first hatch, using the dry incubation method i found here. i had an 81% hatch rate, i honestly would have been happy to have one hatch and survive! i followed the instructions word for word, and ran a vaporizer in my room to keep the room humidity up. lock down came i was nervous as all get out, i started to worry about not having water in the bator for the last three weeks, 13 out of 16 hatched and are now two days old and full of p. and v. i started lockdown at 65% humidity, and once the first chick hatched, it sky rocketed i even had to crack the lid for awhile with a knitting needle, i have another set of 17 in lockdown now, and i'm starting at about 50%, they all wiggle, just like the last ones so i'm very impressed with this method...i also think air flow is really important, i left the plugs out days 1 thru 18, and for lock down to get the humidity up i just set them upside down on the holes and once the humidity was up i slid them away, and that was it. totally awesome!

 

[Lotsapaints]

I think it depends on where you live I have to add water because we're lucky if humidity is 35 to 40% and soon it will only be in the teens when it rains the house humidity gets to maybe 50%. I go by the air sack in the egg if it gets too big I add more water I had a great hatch 31 out of 36 shipped eggs. This time I have turkeys and marans eggs I've been running my humidity at 50 to 55% and my air sacks are still a bit big but I think it's better that way than too much humidity. I find my eggs get thirsty the closer they get to lock down and I had to add water the whole time they were hatching had to help one out it was zipped when I took all the other chicks out and I let it struggle for 12 hrs then took my tweezers and got the shell off the yolk was all absorbed and she's running around just fine now.

 

[Mahonri]

My best hatch was on Jan. 1st.

Days 1-18 humidity ran between 25% and 35%.

Lockdown 65%.

I hatched 41 of 48 at lockdown.

 

[Kiwibird]

It is really weird how dry incubation can work in a desert, isn't it? However, I have read that things like shell thickness influence what level of humidity you really need, and I guess there must be other factors too. When you think about it, a hen going broody in the desert would have to sweat buckets to keep the eggs under her as damp as a hen in a rainforest, so I guess there is a fair degree of logic in desert eggs coping with a dryish hatch.

They do say that with temperature you should go by the rules but with humidity you can only go by experience, and the more I read about it, the more I agree.

 

[Bluemoon420]

I've been doing the dry hatch method, and it works much better for me. At lockdown, I also used egg cartons, and it my hatch rate was even better. So this hatch I'm doing the same thing. Only difference is the eggs I put in. I haven't tried shipped eggs yet. I didn't have to have a vaporizer in the room we use for the bator, but it depends where you live.

I keep my humidity no higher than 35 %, and let it dry out. Then add about 2/3 cups of warm water, repeat. At lockdown filled both water troughs, and the humidity is at about 60 to 65 %. Once they start hatching it raises a little bit. I use the plugs to raise or lower humidity when needed. I try not to open the bator much during the first 18 days. I only candle when water needs to be added. At lockdown, I won't open at all for any reason. I keep an eye on the air cells, but haven't had any issues with them being too big or too small yet.

Bluemoon

 

[Gypsy07]

I'm in the middle of my first dry hatching experiment so I don't have the results yet, but my figures were pretty much the same as Mahonri's. No water for the first fortnight and humidity sat just above 30%. I candled on day 9 and had 10/10 fertile. Opened bator again on day 15 but just to check progress by weighing them. Thought they were coming in a bit on the low side (i.e. too much moisture loss) so put in the water dish but kept the vents fully open. Humidity came up to about 55-60%. Going into lockdown on day 18 I candled again and removed one egg that hadn't developed. One other egg looked rather iffy with a huge air sac along the whole length of the egg but I left it in anyway as the rest of the egg was dark so there's obviously something going on in there. Topped the water dish right up and closed the vents 3/4 of the way shut to bring humidity up to 65-70%. And that's where I am right now. Day 22 and the eggs have just started cheeping ten minutes ago...

Oh, forgot to say, these are shipped eggs. My first ever attempt at hatching shipped eggs...

 

[isabrowneyedsue]

well, results from my second set are 14 out of 17 hatched, 1 was infertile, 2 late quitters. i am so happy!!!