you are right there is a lot of conflicting information out there... and everyone thinks they're right!
The truth is everyone has what works for them, and it has probably changed over time thru experiences. you also have to consider location differences, the humidity in Oregon is probably different than in N Dakota so that could play a role. also I have heard altitude changes co2 and oxygen levels for incubating but I really don't understand that!
this is what I do.. it works well for me. I was introduced to the dry method by some more experienced hatchers than myself. basically, the idea is that if you have an incubator full of eggs which are losing water weight (evaporating) they are creating their own humidity within that closed environment. the humidity can be altered/controlled by the opening or closing of the incubator vents also (up or down depends on ambient room humidity). I do not use vent plugs for this reason.
SO ideally, your eggs self regulate and you add zero humidity at all. in my incubator (farm innovators forced air w/turner link) if I fill 41 of 41 eggs, the humidity will naturally be around 35% without adding any water. If I fill it with less, like 12 of 41 eggs, it won't regulate as well and may be around 20% so I may have to add a tiny bit of water to bring it up slightly. I still consider it a dry hatch though.
as low as 25% is fine; as high as 45% is fine, while allowing them to self regulate. if it goes below that, I add a small piece of wet sponge (1in x 1in) to bring it up around 30-35%. for me, 30-35% seems to be perfect. I use a forced air, so 99.5F. I have identified the hot and cold spots in my bator and I set in a specific location (basically dead center avoiding the turner motor [its hot])
the overall goal here IS to lose water weight, you do not want too much liquid in the egg at the end. You will be bringing moisture back in to the environment in that final hatching stage, so you kind of can't "over do it" when it comes to losing the water weight throughout incubation. I mean, I guess you could if you ran it real real low like 10% the whole time, I have never done that and never would!
having a hygrometer (or two or three) you can rely on is also key. I usually start out my incubator before I set eggs with all 3 hygrometers in it to make sure they read the same, then go down to 1 I trust.
Edit: Also, I highly recommend the 2 links in my signature for more detailed and better explanations than I have
The truth is everyone has what works for them, and it has probably changed over time thru experiences. you also have to consider location differences, the humidity in Oregon is probably different than in N Dakota so that could play a role. also I have heard altitude changes co2 and oxygen levels for incubating but I really don't understand that!
this is what I do.. it works well for me. I was introduced to the dry method by some more experienced hatchers than myself. basically, the idea is that if you have an incubator full of eggs which are losing water weight (evaporating) they are creating their own humidity within that closed environment. the humidity can be altered/controlled by the opening or closing of the incubator vents also (up or down depends on ambient room humidity). I do not use vent plugs for this reason.
SO ideally, your eggs self regulate and you add zero humidity at all. in my incubator (farm innovators forced air w/turner link) if I fill 41 of 41 eggs, the humidity will naturally be around 35% without adding any water. If I fill it with less, like 12 of 41 eggs, it won't regulate as well and may be around 20% so I may have to add a tiny bit of water to bring it up slightly. I still consider it a dry hatch though.
as low as 25% is fine; as high as 45% is fine, while allowing them to self regulate. if it goes below that, I add a small piece of wet sponge (1in x 1in) to bring it up around 30-35%. for me, 30-35% seems to be perfect. I use a forced air, so 99.5F. I have identified the hot and cold spots in my bator and I set in a specific location (basically dead center avoiding the turner motor [its hot])
the overall goal here IS to lose water weight, you do not want too much liquid in the egg at the end. You will be bringing moisture back in to the environment in that final hatching stage, so you kind of can't "over do it" when it comes to losing the water weight throughout incubation. I mean, I guess you could if you ran it real real low like 10% the whole time, I have never done that and never would!
having a hygrometer (or two or three) you can rely on is also key. I usually start out my incubator before I set eggs with all 3 hygrometers in it to make sure they read the same, then go down to 1 I trust.
Edit: Also, I highly recommend the 2 links in my signature for more detailed and better explanations than I have
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