Operation Dry Hatch

[GlacierHen]

Thanks for adding this. I found it interesting and helpful.

 

[ChickensInMyYard]

Well Hello Everyone,

I started this thread and now am eating humble pie.

This hatch was a disaster. Many things could be the factor. 1. Every thermometer and hydrometer had different readings in my styro. 2. I live in Canada where it's way too dry. 3. I kept adding eggs so I had different hatch dates. 4. I just had the worse luck EVER. 4. The eggs I bought were filthy but I cleaned them when I got them home.
I did well with the first hatch date, I got 7 chicks out of the 8 eggs. After that the eggs seemed to be doing great until the very end of the 21 day period. I candled them and could see movement in a lot of them up to a day before the due date but most of those were dead in the shell a day or two after that. So heart wrenching. I was rummaging threw a bunch of my husbands junk and found a floating wine thermometer, for making wine. I thought I'd put it in my styro and it read 90 degrees. Could it be accurate? I don't know. But I am going to try again. I'm loading up my dreaded styro tomorrow and I'm going to use this wine thing. Actually it fits perfectly in one of the plug holes in the top!
I hope you all don't give up with this dry incubation idea because after reading this whole thread I can see that it does work if done with care and one eyeball near the incubator at all times.

Here we go again.

ChickensInMyYard

P.S. Good Info Mohillbilly

 

[wholewheatchicken]

Well Hello Everyone,

I started this thread and now am eating humble pie.

This hatch was a disaster. Many things could be the factor. 1. Every thermometer and hydrometer had different readings in my styro. 2. I live in Canada where it's way too dry. 3. I kept adding eggs so I had different hatch dates. 4. I just had the worse luck EVER. 4. The eggs I bought were filthy but I cleaned them when I got them home.
I did well with the first hatch date, I got 7 chicks out of the 8 eggs. After that the eggs seemed to be doing great until the very end of the 21 day period. I candled them and could see movement in a lot of them up to a day before the due date but most of those were dead in the shell a day or two after that. So heart wrenching. I was rummaging threw a bunch of my husbands junk and found a floating wine thermometer, for making wine. I thought I'd put it in my styro and it read 90 degrees. Could it be accurate? I don't know. But I am going to try again. I'm loading up my dreaded styro tomorrow and I'm going to use this wine thing. Actually it fits perfectly in one of the plug holes in the top!
I hope you all don't give up with this dry incubation idea because after reading this whole thread I can see that it does work if done with care and one eyeball near the incubator at all times.

Here we go again.

ChickensInMyYard

P.S. Good Info Mohillbilly

I'm so sorry to hear your hatch did not go well. I have been in your shoes so I understand the dissapointment. I tried the dry hatch two different ways and neither worked for me and interestingly enough bringing my humidity up and letting it dry down produced the worst results between the two batches of eggs. This time I am keeping it around 50%..sometimes it's a little less and sometimes it's a little more. I obviously have a ways to go to know the true results of this, but I am weighing the eggs every week and I also have a broody hen that is a week ahead of me and I am using the air cells on those chicks to reference mine. Everything appears to be on target and I am cautiously optimistic.
Good luck with your next set.

 

[ChickensInMyYard]

Sorry, guys! I'm tired and thought I was over in hatching thread. OOOOps. Okay, I'm off to the right section to talk about babies. I have no idea on this dry hatch method. I tried it and shrinktified all those chicks. This time I've upped the humidity to upper 40s to about 50%. Tomorrow is weigh day and I'm hoping I am on target, but they lose such a small amount I'm a little worried as my scale weighs to the nearest hundreth. I have my fingers crossed.

 

[ChickensInMyYard]

Thank you for the kind words.No one knows how bad it feels until you've been there. And great idea comparing air cells. A broody hen is always nice to have around. I was thinking about getting a few broody bantams and let them do the work.

But I am trying again, I just started up again today as I was overloaded with eggs. But I will, up the humidity this time. but not too much.
Back to the count down. I'll keep you all posted.

 

[wholewheatchicken]

I really thought weighing the eggs was neat. It at least gives me a guide if I'm doing okay on mass loss. Like I said, I don't know how it will all work out yet, but it's just one more piece of the puzzle for me as a guide. I've got four broodies right now so I'm just cheating, LOL!
Are you trying to incubate bantam or LF eggs?

 

[1muttsfan]

I am sorry to hear about your poor hatch. I had a few go bad last summer, related to excess humidity and attempts at split hatches. The climate here is very dry even in the spring due to the furnace running most of the time, so I overcompensated by keeping the humidity too high in the bator.

Get an accurate thermometer, you will never regret it. The Brinsea spot check is very reasonably priced.

And calibrating your hygrometer is such a great source of peace of mind.

I agree with the earlier poster that said it is really dry incubation, not dry hatching. Once the chicks start pipping the humidity needs to be increased. And no matter how tempted you are, do NOT open the bator during hatching!

Here is a simple drawing showing desired air cell size at different times during development

 

[m.r.heavenlyhens]

I also am sorry for your loss. It is so tough when they are growing like that, then to have them die. I agree wholeheartedly with last post. Especially about not opening the bator at all while all the eggs hatch. that was the very hardest part for me. I was constantly shining a flashlight in the top to see how they were doing. But I went the very simplest route. I simply left them alone except to turn them. I candled a few early on and then left them alone. After lockdown, I did not open for five ful days.

 

[Frost Homestead]

I've got 26 eggs in the 'bator now, my first hatch and I'm using the dry incubation method. The humidity stays between 30-40% without every adding anything to it, the one time it did drop down to 25% I added a syringe if water and it went back up to around 40% pretty quick. If I fill the tray like the incubator instruction call for my humidity would be way too high, but on the up-side it doesn't seem like I'm going to have much trouble getting the humidity up during lockdown. Crossing my fingers for a good first hatch!

 

[mohillbilly]

did you calibrate your hygrometer?