THE MOTHER'S DAY HATCH-A-LONG!!!! The last day to join in and set eggs with us is April 28th.

[Cynthia12]

THe purpose of the dry hatch is to keep moisture levels low enough to dry the egg to correct levels, about 11-13% wt loss, so the chick is not bloated with water and can turn and twist to pip and zip. The increased moisture at lockdown is to keep the membranes moist and pliable during the zipping phase. If the pip hole lets in dry air the membranes can dry to the chick and its glued in place not able to zip. TWO different purposes between the incubating phase and the hatching phase. Now do you feel better?

Have to ask, since different people think different temps as dry hatch. Do you use any water at all? Completely dry? I use the 30's to 40% for my dry hatch...low humidity hatch? LOL..

 

[Cynthia12]

I think I have a black skin showgirl! *dies* Okay... maybe greyish not quite black but my others are PINK... and this one is not half bad for a 1st gen I think! :-D LOOKIE!



5 toes! (yes, also needs work...)


Comparing her neck with another that hatched today...


Hehe, okay I had to share because I was so SHOCKED when this one hatched (I even waited a few hours before posting this to make sure her color didn't change and I looked dumb, lol!).

YAY!

I would have never expected that... I read not to expect 5 toes or black skin until 3 generations in so yeah... not perfect by any means but I'm so excited!

She's my first one without a pink neck/feet and 5 toes (the other 5 I've hatched so far had 4 toes).

I also had another silkie hatch

So two more still pipped (blood in membrane, not ready)... the rest are hopefully just sleeping in... *fingers crossed*

Wow, good job! You are on your way to some nice looking showgirls!

 

[rarely bored]

Wowsa!! So many cute chickie pics!

Mine are hatching!!

Almost done though. I think there is about 20 chicks squishing together in the brooder, or in the 'bator or almost hatched. Of my 8 shipped Serama's, I had 5 make it to lock down, 4 have hatched and the last one is working on it. I'm beyond pleased with those results!!

of course the Brinsea, which is an excellent incubator but has issues with drying the membranes out towards the end of the hatch, has made intervention a necessity. I've had to assist 4 or 5 chicks, wetting the membrane and pulling whatever is stuck to them away.

Over all a good hatch! There were 4 eggs which had full size chicks who never rotated their head around to pip the airsac. Not sure why, but, still a good hatch.

Will have to post pictures tomorrow!

 

[hokankai]

Chick 2/3 is zipping! Hoping to have a baby in the morning

Not sure about the 3rd, but we'll see. There's no pip yet though.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Dry hatch means to keep the humidity low. Lower than if the wells are filled like the instruction manuals of the LG or other stryrofoam incubators indicate. Overall, the devleoping air cell is my guide. Last fall when the wood stove was running, I needed to add water, not a lot, just a few table spoons in one well. THen I did the Easter Hatch a long, and couldn't find my hydrometer, so I could only go by the air cells, and didn't need to add water at all the entire hatch.

My understanding is hot dry climates need the added water to keep the eggs from drying out too much.; and larger wooden incubators also suck up a lot of water and need water added.

It's all about the air cell developing as scheduled.

 

[aaggjg]

Have to ask, since different people think different temps as dry hatch.  Do you use any water at all?  Completely dry?   I use the 30's to 40% for my dry hatch...low humidity hatch? LOL.. 

I usually aim to keep my humidity in the 30-35 range so I have to add a little water to do this.... If it jumps to 40 I don't worry I just wait an extra day or so to add more water once the humidity drops... This time I started at 40 (aiming for 35) .... So I left it. I then read about how thick the Marans shells are and decided not to add water again as long as it stayed in the 20s.... It did. At lockdown I jacked it up to 65% .... My Marans have hatched very well... although i did have one shrink wrapped yesterday.... No idea why. I think I'm at 7 out of 10 I lockdown Marans hatched.... 1 of those was left out overnight by broody .... So I think that's pretty good... My silkies on the other hand have not faired so well this dry..... I suspect they needed a little more moisture... Out of 24 I had 11 clears? And so far 1 that pipped and died and 3 others hatch (I think) this is pre coffee so my numbers might be off a bit.

 

[Tripp16]

Well I cant get the darn humidity past 49% and 50%!! I keep adding more and more water with a syringe through the vent hole but it refuses to go higher! Maybe its my hygrometer?

But! I was out feeding everyone and gave my broody her scratch well I saw an egg, I picked it up and listened (since I thought she was sitting hotter then my incubator I guessed the eggs may hatch sooner) at first nothing, then I heard a LOUD peeping and scratching against the egg! She fluffed up and began clucking I gave it back to her and she shoved it underneath her!

 

[yinepu]

Overall I'm just trying to get rid of some of the confusion between a DRY HATCH and a DRY INCUBATION........ (a "hatch" being "lockdown")

Ok well if my Hygrometer says 45% and I have half the rungs in the bottom filled 2 sponges soaked and one saucer of water, do you think its my hygrometer thats wrong? Or still not enough water? BTW I have both plugs out should I put one back in?

If you have that much of a swamp going on in there then it's a pretty good bet that the hygrometer is off...
and LEAVE THE PLUGS OUT... the hatching chicks NEED oxygen

Also Im doing a dry hatch so adding all this water just feels like a bad thing. Can the eggs still absorb alot of this water at this point at which when the chicks internally pip they will be met with the flood of water? I always get like this come day 18....

eggs don't re-absorb moisture.. problems arise from wet bloated chicks when the humidity is too high during INCUBATION.. not hatch
there is a difference between a dry INCUBATION and a dry HATCH.. most people can't do a dry HATCH because of their incubators... the fan placement makes a big difference.. so for most people I don't suggest they attempt a dry hatch unless they will be there to monitor the hatching chicks and see if more moisture is needed

THe purpose of the dry hatch is to keep moisture levels low enough to dry the egg to correct levels, about 11-13% wt loss, so the chick is not bloated with water and can turn and twist to pip and zip. The increased moisture at lockdown is to keep the membranes moist and pliable during the zipping phase. If the pip hole lets in dry air the membranes can dry to the chick and its glued in place not able to zip. TWO different purposes between the incubating phase and the hatching phase. Now do you feel better?

(I know you mean dry incubation and not hatch... just to clarify things...) but yeah.. the extra humidity is usually needed at hatch to help keep the membranes pliable.. for some critters (like guinea fowl) they need a drier incubation because too much humidity during incubation makes the membrane rubbery.. they they die because they can't break through it

Have to ask, since different people think different temps as dry hatch. Do you use any water at all? Completely dry? I use the 30's to 40% for my dry hatch...low humidity hatch? LOL..

for a dry INCUBATION most people run under 40%.. then only add water when the humidity hits into the 20's... there is a good article somewhere on it.. I'll have to hunt around and see if I can find it
for a dry HATCH I keep the levels the same as I did for a dry incubation.. which for me has been around 30 to 35%.. it has dropped down into the 20's on occasion.. but by then I usually have chicks hatch and they (the chicks) bring it back up into the 50's or higher fast...

Dry hatch means to keep the humidity low. Lower than if the wells are filled like the instruction manuals of the LG or other stryrofoam incubators indicate. Overall, the devleoping air cell is my guide. Last fall when the wood stove was running, I needed to add water, not a lot, just a few table spoons in one well. THen I did the Easter Hatch a long, and couldn't find my hydrometer, so I could only go by the air cells, and didn't need to add water at all the entire hatch.

My understanding is hot dry climates need the added water to keep the eggs from drying out too much.; and larger wooden incubators also suck up a lot of water and need water added.

It's all about the air cell developing as scheduled.

here in the summer when our relative humidity is down around 16% I can't dry hatch without adding water .. (which isn't really a dry hatch anymore.. lol)
this spring has been pretty wet.. our relative humidity has been anywhere from in the 50's on up to high 70's.. so I haven't added any water at all during incubation.. and only at hatch if it was a clutch of turkey eggs

Arielle is right.. the air cells should be your main guide.. ignore those inaccurate frustrating hygrometers (only use them to tell you if your humidity is climbing or dropping and pretty much ignore the numbers unless it is a really good recently calibrated hygrometer).. the air cells and hatching chicks will tell you if you need to add water to the bator or not

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

I used the words "dry hatch" because those were the identifying words the poster used. You know I do dry incubating and then up the humidity, especially for those turkeys! And I don't lockdown either, I'm in and out checking on everyone and grabbing fluffed chicks and fence hoppers.

I did have a chick zip all the way around and it was still trapped. It had chipped off the egg shell, but the membrane was so pliable it had a zillion holes poked in it all the way around!! I rescued the chick but it left me wondering about the effects of too much moisture. It made me appreciate the hen and the thousands of years in the making of such an ingenious creature.Our Earth deserves so much more respect than it gets. I think the membrane needs enough moisture to not dry on to the chick but not so much that it does tear.

 

[Arielle]

Well I cant get the darn humidity past 49% and 50%!! I keep adding more and more water with a syringe through the vent hole but it refuses to go higher! Maybe its my hygrometer?

But! I was out feeding everyone and gave my broody her scratch well I saw an egg, I picked it up and listened (since I thought she was sitting hotter then my incubator I guessed the eggs may hatch sooner) at first nothing, then I heard a LOUD peeping and scratching against the egg! She fluffed up and began clucking I gave it back to her and she shoved it underneath her!

Are the windows partly covered with moisture? IF so the humidity is up around 70% or more.

Adding water isn't always effective. Only if the resevoirs are dry. Moisture levels are more related to how much surface area is releasing water. A sponge laying flat releases about half the moisture of a sponge tipped up on a narrow edge. THink surface area exposed to the air. Does that help?