where to begin

Hi Everyone. After having reallly bad computer issues I am hopfully
back. I have so many questions where do I start. I have 2 hovabators
that I am plugging in today. Hopefully I will be receiving some white
eggs to hatch. I have not hatched anything in them yet. The temp stays
where it should but I do not have a hygrometer for either of them. Do i
need one? I had 6 eggs given to me to try them out but they were all
clear withone rotten one. So I don't know if they work. My hens
have stopped laying for the moment so I have some time to
get them working. I saw a post where someone said they dry
hatched . That is why I am asking about the hygrometers. Both have
turners but I was going to use one as a hatcher so will leave the
turner out. Anyway I had so many more questions that are alluding
me right now anyway its good to be back.
Geri

Did you buy these incubators new? Do you have the manual that came with them?
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Here is another link for you.
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No They are used ones. Yes the manuals came with them but I was
referring to apost where someone said they dry hatched and was
wondering how important humidity was or if I really needed a hygrometer.
Geri

Rasilon wrote:No They are used ones. Yes the manuals came with them but I was
referring to apost where someone said they dry hatched and was
wondering how important humidity was or if I really needed a hygrometer.
Geri

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uno wrote:CynthiaM, yes, Costco shopping can suck the soul right out of a guy.

Sweetened, note about stuck chicks, a note that will go against the grain of everything you've read....humidity has nothing to do with stuck chicks. Yup, go ahead and squawk all you who watch your humidity levels and add water. I dry hatch and have found, over and over and over, that FAST hatchers do not get stuck. SLOW hatchers always get stuck. This is not a result of humidity, this is a result of speed. Even in the most tropical everglade bator environment slow chicks get glued in their shells!

So if you are thinking you have done something 'wrong', you have not. It just is what it is. I also help chicks. With a Q-tip I will dab water onto glued on membrane and peel it off. I give a chick every chance to live...most surprise me with how well they do with a helping hand. And splay leg is easily fixed with a bandaid splint.

I know of a thread that talks about The "Dry Incubation" Method, it is not at this forum tho.
What other forums do you goto? Its at the big American one under learning center.

Google The "Dry Incubation" Method

.

R. Roo wrote:there should be a plastic tray with 3 channels for
water. I used to keep one channel filled the first week, 2 the second
week, and fill all channels the third week, not accurate but close
enough to work. Whether dry or wet hatching the trick is to get the
water in the egg to evaporate at the proper rate.

Hi The plastic trays are missing. There is the screens and then the
styrofoam bottom with the groves. I guess I could fill the m with water.
Geri

this is the only forum I am on

It is so hard to get eggs from good birds here in Manitoba. We are in
the center of Canada but in the middle of no where it seems. I don't have the egggs to experiment with These are my first incubators .So I am brand new at doing this
Geri

Rasilon wrote:
Hi The plastic trays are missing. There is the screens and then the
styrofoam bottom with the groves. I guess I could fill the m with water.
Geri

There are ventilation holes in the bottom of the bator and it will leak out.
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If you buy from them and spend $25 use coupon code: FIVEOFF25


I have seen plastic trays for cakes, veggie trays, candy and Christmas nut trays that have groves in them that will work. You will have to use a hygrometer to figure out how many channels to fill up tho. People who use the dry incubation method set their humidity at 45%-50%.

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The inner two do not have holes. Mine are older models so maybe they have changed

I do dry incubation, but not dry hatching. I tried several methods before I found what worked here. We are so dry that I had to fill the trays three to four times a day to keep what is supposed to be the proper humidity. I never had good hatches. I stopped adding water til lock down. I started getting much better hatches. But I dont recommend that to others to try first

I swear by good humidity. I have done it all ways and the best hatches I have had is when I get my humidty consistent. If they are older incubators I would replace the wafers as well just to be on the safe side.

So are you going to buy a hydrometer? Please post back and let us know. Thanks
Winnipeg will have a cigar shop with a cigar hygrometer for cheap.

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What are you going to use for a tray?

In BC what used to be Radio Shack is now The Source. I bought this decent hygro/thermometer there for $20. You can shop online with them if you don't have similar where you are.

BCBoy, can you give me a tutorial on how to put this: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] into a hyperlinked word within the paragraph? I wanted to h-link the work "this" in my first line but it never seems to work for me. I paste the link into the little hyperlink chainlink thingey and it just places the whole link at the end of the paragraph.

Sorry Geri for swerving off topic.

Yes I am going to buy a hygrometer, one ment for incubators. I am just
going to put water in the bottom of the incubator in the grooves with
no holes.
Geri

Rasilon wrote:Yes I am going to buy a hygrometer, one ment for incubators. I am just
going to put water in the bottom of the incubator in the grooves with
no holes.
Geri

You can also use wet sponges in a shallow pan if you need more surface area.

farmchiq wrote:

Rasilon wrote:Yes I am going to buy a hygrometer, one ment for incubators. I am just
going to put water in the bottom of the incubator in the grooves with
no holes.
Geri

You can also use wet sponges in a shallow pan if you need more surface area.

Yes I may try that as well thanks

farmchiq wrote:In BC what used to be Radio Shack is now The Source. I bought this decent hygro/thermometer there for $20. You can shop online with them if you don't have similar where you are.

BCBoy, can you give me a tutorial on how to put this: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] into a hyperlinked word within the paragraph? I wanted to h-link the work "this" in my first line but it never seems to work for me. I paste the link into the little hyperlink chainlink thingey and it just places the whole link at the end of the paragraph.

Sorry Geri for swerving off topic.

[url=your hyperlink]"this"[/url]
I will have to change this "[" to these "}" for you to see.
Add color
[url=your hyperlink]{color=red}"this"{/color}[/url]
add color and size

[url=your hyperlink]{color=red}{size=24}"this"{/size}{/color}[/url]

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bcboy wrote:

farmchiq wrote:In BC what used to be Radio Shack is now The Source. I bought [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] decent hygro/thermometer there for $20. You can shop online with them if you don't have similar where you are.

BCBoy, can you give me a tutorial on how to put this: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] into a hyperlinked word within the paragraph? I wanted to h-link the work "this" in my first line but it never seems to work for me. I paste the link into the little hyperlink chainlink thingey and it just places the whole link at the end of the paragraph.

Sorry Geri for swerving off topic.

Did you try it? Did you get it to work for you?

Click [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to buy a hygrometer at The Source.

You can also use 4 sour cream containers to set your mesh screen on, fill the containers with water.

Or not.

MY experience has been, over and over and over, that when I futz around with adding water I get, consistently, one of two outcomes:
1) perfect chicks that drown in their shell on last day of hatch
2) chicks that hatch but have a great deal of slime with them and thus are more prone to sticking, since they have a lot of stickum in the egg with them!

I am a dry hatcher and I do not set my humidity anywhere. I do not own a hygrometer. I turn the bator on, set my weird little computer fan in, plunk in eggs, and say a prayer.

For those who find this close to profanity, I say, split it down the middle and do what some people do. Dry hatch for 18 days, then for the final three day, add some moisture, just to make yourself feel better.

I have hatched eggs in an RV fridge with a wool blanket for a cover, hatched eggs in a cardbaord box, hatched eggs in a black turkey roaster, and a styrofoam cooler. The Hovabator too. I have had success and failure in each, but humidity has given me the highest amount of chick deaths.

I believe one must understand how the conditions for the egg change when we artificially incubate. Do you know why we believe we need to add humidity? What are we trying to accomplish?