Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Hi there,

I did look back regarding this post and found a few thoughts on Dry Hatching. In my last hatch I kept the humidity at 49% until lockdown then got it to 60-65%. 6 out of 7 hatched. The last one looked like a quitter at day 14 or 15 before lockdown cause I put a '?' on that egg.

All my chicks hatched well, meaning no lasting issues, a couple pipped in the middle of the shell and didn't stand up for a day or so while the yolk got absorbed.

Any thoughts on Dry Hatching, no additional humidity until lockdown. I'm concerned about splay legs.

Cheers Karen and thanks!

Never gone above 60% and stay around your values for the rest. Thing is once the hatch starts moisture is added naturally so you don't need additional moisture. I think @Ontario Chick dry hatches too and will likely have input. This is moot now because I use Millpond hatchery and broodies. That doesn't work for people who want really erly hatches to get birds ready for showing season.
Frankly if you get good hatches don't change a thing!

@kenya also uses dry hatching I think.
Mine is now only historical comment as I was also happy to use Millpond, mainly to avoid getting the whole house in to uproar every time hatching time came, since the optimum temperature in the house was in the centre of the house

When I purchased my first Hovabator (about 14 years ago) there were very specific instructions on hatching humidity and they were completely wrong.
Then somebody mentioned that the Hovabators tend to drown the chicks....
Then on the original "Poultry Swap" forum somebody posted the original (to me) article on "dry hatching".

Equipped with those bits of information I kept meticulous records and came up with what worked for me, which was 45% until lockdown, and don't panic until it's down to 35%
and + - 55% at lockdown.
When I purchased a second hovabator few years later, I was happy to see that the instructions have been changed.

Using separate incubator for lockdown makes the hatching less stressful, as it allows for time to set the humidity at the right level, before moving the eggs in, so way less fiddling

Jan, @windwalkingwolf uses the same thing and never adds moisture.
The only time I tried folowing th instructions I ended up with wet, glued in chicks. Went back to "dry" hatching. I totally agree on the having 2 bators though. I have a fan one for incubtion and a still one for hatch. I found that works better for turkeys.

I use the dry hatching method, only sometimes at hatch time do I put a little extra water in. My humidity is around 35 to 45 then I keep it around 45 at hatch. I also stagger my hatches by putting around 5 eggs in every couple days. This ensures the eggs are super fresh and I find the older chicks teach the younger ones what to eat and where to get it. I am bad I do not follow traditional hatching rules, I open the incubator to take out chicks that have hatched and are dry, I do not wait till all are hatched, hard to do when I stagger hatches. I use my hand a couple times a day and roll the eggs around to turn them, I am not consistent I do it when ever. I do Mark on the eggs when they were put in the incubator so near hatch I'll put those eggs together at one end of the incubator and not turn them. My hatch rates are great. I've been hatching for many many years so I have tons of experience, I would not recommend someone who is not experienced to open the incubator when chicks have pipped. You do get some chicks that get stuck because you changed the humidity and have to help them out. If I see eggs pipped I will try and wait to open the incubator and the chicks themselves turn the other eggs when they are scrambling over them.

@kenya any splayed legs or other issues hatching? Naturally, the house is about 25% humidity which i think is too low. I had all kinds of trouble getting the humidity to 65% it hovered around 60%. So, I'm on the right track if I leave it at 45% and raise it to 55 or 60% for hatching.

None

I would never have it at 60 for hatching 55 is as high as I would go. Splayed legs I only get if I left them on a slippery surface, in the incubator I put paper towels under the ones ready to hatch.
35-45 to start, as high as 55 to hatch, I don't worry about the humidity staying constant, it is what it is but I do like it a little higher around 45-55 at hatch.

@kenya I'm happy to give it a try. Of course I read this after I added water today...it's only day 2 so I'm not too worried. I'll just let the humidity drop.

I'll let you know how it works out. It may be that there is too much humidityin my incubator.

Cheers Karen and thanks !

We're all waiting.