Operation Dry Hatch

[chiknaddiction]

So...of my 38 original eggs, 11 were tossed when candling at day 7 leaving me with 27. All passed second candling at day 18, most had movement and I immediately afterward locked down. Last night, day 19, we were hearing chirps from the eggs. Today, day 20, we have 3 Silkie chicks hatched with the majority of the rest piping! I roughly followed the dry hatch instructions, but my 2 hygrometers were unreliable/inaccurate and my 3 thermometers all had different readings. To make up for it I allowed for fluctuation of temps with the average of all three readings between 99 and 100 degrees. At lock down I filled the water channels and added a wet sponge to boost humidity and removed the egg turner (fan is running).

Sorry to hear some of you have been having a rough time with this method. I'm convinced that it totally depends on the humidity of the area you live, it was fairly simple to keep my humidity in the 30-40% range.

 

[zekii]

I put a humidifier in the room I'm incubating in, and have the room humidity at 65%, but
I struggle to keep my incubator humidity above 30%. I candled day 16, and the air cell look about right, so I'll stay with what I've been doing, adding small amounts of water every day or so to keep
my humidity in the incubator in the 30 to 40% range. About a week more for me before lockdown since these are turkey eggs.

 

[ChickensInMyYard]

So...of my 38 original eggs, 11 were tossed when candling at day 7 leaving me with 27. All passed second candling at day 18, most had movement and I immediately afterward locked down. Last night, day 19, we were hearing chirps from the eggs. Today, day 20, we have 3 Silkie chicks hatched with the majority of the rest piping! I roughly followed the dry hatch instructions, but my 2 hygrometers were unreliable/inaccurate and my 3 thermometers all had different readings. To make up for it I allowed for fluctuation of temps with the average of all three readings between 99 and 100 degrees. At lock down I filled the water channels and added a wet sponge to boost humidity and removed the egg turner (fan is running).

Sorry to hear some of you have been having a rough time with this method. I'm convinced that it totally depends on the humidity of the area you live, it was fairly simple to keep my humidity in the 30-40% range.

Excellent! Good for you! Which dry hatch insructions did u follow? The one I posted when I started this thread? My eggs are looking good right now. I candled today (day 17) and out of 22 eggs I tossed only 1. So keep all fingers and toes crossed please!
ChickensInMyYard

 

[ChickensInMyYard]

I put a humidifier in the room I'm incubating in, and have the room humidity at 65%, but
I struggle to keep my incubator humidity above 30%. I candled day 16, and the air cell look about right, so I'll stay with what I've been doing, adding small amounts of water every day or so to keep
my humidity in the incubator in the 30 to 40% range. About a week more for me before lockdown since these are turkey eggs.

 

[ChickensInMyYard]

Ok,

this time my humidity has been between 25 and 40. I only checked the incubator maybe 3 times a week. If the humidity was getting a little low I would add only a tiny amount of water. These syros really hold onto the water sometimes. My temp has been right on 99.9 percent right from day 1. Now as I said I'm using one of those wine kit thermometers this time. When I compared this one with my digital thermometers I found that they were way out, a few by 9 degrees. I trust this floating one, I'll try to attach a picture of it, It looks like a large mercury thermometer, you know, the ones we stuck in our mouths when we were sick before the digitals took over. And it fits nicely in the hole on top of the styro where the plugs are, So far my eggs look pretty good. Out of 21 I had to toss 1.

The air cells look good and I can see a lot of movement also. This is the time I start to worry though. Do I leave them where they are or do I move them to the separate styro for the final stage? I think this time I'll just remove the turner and leave them where they are. The reason for moving them is to keep my main styro from contamination during the hatch. But the change can't be good for the eggs.

This is day 16 so I'll keep you posted.

That attachment didn't come through so well but you can get an idea. It's about 8 inches long and 3/4 inch wide.

 

[ChickensInMyYard]

Ok,

this time my humidity has been between 25 and 40. I only checked the incubator maybe 3 times a week. If the humidity was getting a little low I would add only a tiny amount of water. These syros really hold onto the water sometimes. My temp has been right on 99.9 percent right from day 1. Now as I said I'm using one of those wine kit thermometers this time. When I compared this one with my digital thermometers I found that they were way out, a few by 9 degrees. I trust this floating one, I'll try to attach a picture of it, It looks like a large mercury thermometer, you know, the ones we stuck in our mouths when we were sick before the digitals took over. And it fits nicely in the hole on top of the styro where the plugs are, So far my eggs look pretty good. Out of 21 I had to toss 1.

The air cells look good and I can see a lot of movement also. This is the time I start to worry though. Do I leave them where they are or do I move them to the separate styro for the final stage? I think this time I'll just remove the turner and leave them where they are. The reason for moving them is to keep my main styro from contamination during the hatch. But the change can't be good for the eggs.

This is day 16 so I'll keep you posted.

That attachment didn't come through so well but you can get an idea. It's about 8 inches long and 3/4 inch wide.

 

[wholewheatchicken]

Here is my consolation prize since none of the chicks made it to hatch out:

Lady Gwen was born on Sunday 3/25/12 at 2 pm.

That is some consolation prize!!!! I wish I had gotten something like this when my hatch went badly...BOTH TIMES!!! Congragulations on this new baby.
I'm friends with onawhimfarm on here. We've hatched together twice now....nice person

 

[azhenhouse]

ZERO!!! Out of three dozen eggs I got ZERO chicks, ZERO. I opened up my little mover egg today, and it is dead. It would be moving if it were alive, right? It internally pipped, but it looks like it shrink wrapped. I have pictures that I will post later. Out of the three eggs that were with it only one moved once, so I am sure they are gone too. I had such a big head thinking I could incubate some eggs, whatever! I should have taken the signal on day twenty-three when the egg moved non-stop for a couple of hours that it was in trouble, and I probably should have helped it out.

 

[immyjay54]

ZERO!!! Out of three dozen eggs I got ZERO chicks, ZERO. I opened up my little mover egg today, and it is dead. It would be moving if it were alive, right? It internally pipped, but it looks like it shrink wrapped. I have pictures that I will post later. Out of the three eggs that were with it only one moved once, so I am sure they are gone too. I had such a big head thinking I could incubate some eggs, whatever! I should have taken the signal on day twenty-three when the egg moved non-stop for a couple of hours that it was in trouble, and I probably should have helped it out.

So Sorry for your terrible hatch. I know exactly what you are feeling. I've been there. Whether it be 3 eggs or 30 eggs it makes no difference. We can listen to so many folks on their way of doing it BUT until you learn the technique that works for you this is the outcome I feel you will be getting. I've lost so much money and good eggs in the beginning and now it seems that everything has turned around. I followed directions that came with incubators and that didn't work then listened to other folks and that didn't seem to work for me either. After about the third or fourth time, it seems that things really started looking up for me. Still, with shipped eggs it is a toss up of whether they hatch or not. Some of them will give me a 80% + hatch and others will give me a 10% hatch and then there are those that give me absolutely nothing on shipped eggs. If you know that your eggs are fertile, try small (maybe 6 ggs) settings until you figure it out. Don't give up, it is a lot of fun once you get it down. Something that works for me may never work for you etc.
Jim

 

[azhenhouse]

Thanks, Jim. The eggs came all the way from Illinois to Arizona, not an easy trip I'm sure. Plus, packing was kind of hilarious. I don't know if I will do it again, we will see what happens. I am currently trying to find some a little closer. Kris