Wet or dry incubation? im getting confused....

[sniper338]

What does it matter? It seems like its all about the same thing from what ive read.... fire up the incubator... let it stablize temp and humidity... (because your climate where you live dictates the humidity you already have in the air).... put eggs in the egg turner.... add a tad of water when needed to keep humidity between 40-50% then the last few days dont open the incubator and add water to get the humidity up to 70%...

Sounds easy enough for me... what am I missing..?

 

[Cynthia12]

I personally think that the temp is more important than the humidity at first. Get that temp right at first, keep it as steady as you can. Having it change only a degree or two is ok, as long as it does not get up over 101. Getting close to cooking them, get it down quick if you see it that high. Dry bators, up to 102 can be safe for a while if the chicks are further along, but, get it back down to 100 for the highest. 99.5 if you have a thermometer that reads that way for you.
Humidity. I usually keep mine around mid 30's. Usually put more water in when I realize it's gone down into the low 20's. Yep, doesn't much matter until lock down. Then, you will crank it up to 60 to 65. I like mine around 62. I don't worry though if I can't get it up over 60. That's a good area..60..62.

 

[sniper338]

Cool. Thank you... reinfored what I was thinking..

 

[gander007]

I personally think that the temp is more important than the humidity at first. Get that temp right at first, keep it as steady as you can. Having it change only a degree or two is ok, as long as it does not get up over 101. Getting close to cooking them, get it down quick if you see it that high. Dry bators, up to 102 can be safe for a while if the chicks are further along, but, get it back down to 100 for the highest. 99.5 if you have a thermometer that reads that way for you.
Humidity. I usually keep mine around mid 30's. Usually put more water in when I realize it's gone down into the low 20's. Yep, doesn't much matter until lock down. Then, you will crank it up to 60 to 65. I like mine around 62. I don't worry though if I can't get it up over 60. That's a good area..60..62.

That is it in a egg shell


gander007

 

[sniper338]

That is it in a egg shell


gander007

My humidity in my house is around 50%.... How do you keep the incubator at a lower humidity if the air outside the incubator is staying higher? will the heat once its turned on generally evaporate the air inside the incubator and dry it out some?

 

[gander007]

It sounds like you do not even need to worry about the humidity where you are by that I mean you might want to try the dry hatch method for 16 days and just add the water on the evening of the 16th day as you just might count yourself lucky by having natural humidity ..... The humidity is really to make the shell fragile enough for the little guy to crack the shell and get out

gander007

 

[sniper338]

10-4! Got it! Thats what I figured the humidity was for... I put that together after reading a TON! lol Thats about the way I am looking at doing it too..

 

[Aphrael]

Humidity is needed to make sure the shell and membrane do not toughen too much for the chicks to break out. However, it is dangerous to assume that humidity is unimportant. The other critical factor governed largely by humidity is evaporation of water from the eggs. The eggs MUST lose a minimum amount of moisture throughout incubation in order for the air cell to grow to a proper size. If humidity is consistently too high throughout incubation then the air cell won't grow enough and the chick will grow to fill the entire shell making it unable to turn for pipping and zipping. (I have experienced this personally. Not fun.

) On the flip side, if it is consistently too low throughout incubation, then as stated above the shells and membranes may be too tough for the chicks to break. Here is where it gets muddy... Nobody can give you magic numbers for humidity guaranteed to work except yourself through trial and error. What you need is a good launching point to begin from (the numbers Cynthia cited are a good starting place). Then you either candle your eggs and mark the air cells to compare them to a good chart showing where they should be for that day. The typical days for charting and comparing air cells are 7, 14, and 18 (for chicken eggs). OR you can get a gram scale and weigh the eggs at the start and then at intervals to check that they are losing an appropriate amount of weight (moisture). I believe they should lose between 13%-15% weight by lockdown time. (Not positive on that as I use the charting method for mine). As you check your eggs, if the air cells are too small or the weight loss too low, then you need to lower your humidity, it is too high. If the air cells are too large or they are losing weight too rapidly then you need to raise your humidity as it is too low. You will find your sweet spot that is just right for your specific variables and it may be very similar to someone else's or it may not. I know it sounds overwhelming and complicated, but it really isn't once you get into it. I wish you the best of luck with your hatching!

 

[sniper338]

thanks for the advice. I got the bator on now to start a test run with a few eggs... see how it goes... It may take a few times of trail and error before I get it, but I have a general idea of what is suppose to and needs to happen and how to correct it... We will see how it goes haha! I am going to keep track on a log of the humidity numbers where I can get a record going for the next trail and error... See what happens in a few weeks....

 

[Aphrael]

thanks for the advice. I got the bator on now to start a test run with a few eggs... see how it goes... It may take a few times of trail and error before I get it, but I have a general idea of what is suppose to and needs to happen and how to correct it... We will see how it goes haha! I am going to keep track on a log of the humidity numbers where I can get a record going for the next trail and error... See what happens in a few weeks....

The log record is a really great idea! I bet you'll have great hatches in no time at all.