Approaching first hatch---and super nervous!!

[3riverschick]

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My little misshapen air cell chicks appear to be developing well. My new worry is all the tornado warnings & possible power outages.[/quote
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Hi find someone who has a generator .move your incubator over to their place now
do you have a general store local or somebody with a generator ? plug it into their electrical system and if the power goes out you can power with their generator .
Best ,
Karen

 

[eclecktic1]

My little misshapen air cell chicks appear to be developing well. My new worry is all the tornado warnings & possible power outages.

I noticed your asking about this on the GA thread and also that you're not feeling well. It seems the rough weather has passed now. I wanted to suggest that the water in your hot water tank is going to stay hot for awhile (unless you run it a lot to allow cold water to run in to replace the hot that flowed out). You can fill any empty bottle or two with that hot water to put against the outside of your incubator (the Brinsea's walls should insulate the eggs from the 120 degree water) wrap the incubator and bottle or bottles with a small blanket or large towel.

Considering that you said your incubator comes up to temp quickly, as others at the GA thread said, a short outage shouldn't be an issue. Also with any sensitive electronic equipment, I always unplug it when the power goes out. That way if there are any surges when the power is restored my equipment isn't fried. You wouldn't want to be stuck without a working electronic thermostat in the middle of incubation. My eggs haven't arrived yet and I have made myself think of these things because of spring storm season.

 

[livhatcher]

I noticed your asking about this on the GA thread and also that you're not feeling well. It seems the rough weather has passed now. I wanted to suggest that the water in your hot water tank is going to stay hot for awhile (unless you run it a lot to allow cold water to run in to replace the hot that flowed out). You can fill any empty bottle or two with that hot water to put against the outside of your incubator (the Brinsea's walls should insulate the eggs from the 120 degree water) wrap the incubator and bottle or bottles with a small blanket or large towel.

Considering that you said your incubator comes up to temp quickly, as others at the GA thread said, a short outage shouldn't be an issue. Also with any sensitive electronic equipment, I always unplug it when the power goes out. That way if there are any surges when the power is restored my equipment isn't fried. You wouldn't want to be stuck without a working electronic thermostat in the middle of incubation. My eggs haven't arrived yet and I have made myself think of these things because of spring storm season.

Thanks for replying...I actually feel much better today. That 24 hr stomach bug is no joke. We have severe weather warnings for tomorrow and all of my kids' schools are closed. My husband has brought home a power inverter so in worst scenario we can put the incubator in the car. I have moved all the eggs tonight to the foam hova bator bc it holds heat better. I have a tankless water heater so I guess that's out as far as an option. We live in a very wooded area on a dirt road, so dealing with the possibilities of trees down is my biggest worry with regard to power. I guess time will tell...

 

[eclecktic1]

Sounds like you have a plan. I think we are all under the severe weather watch tomorrow.

 

[livhatcher]

At Day 15 now. Out of 18 set, with four manually turning, I'm down to 16 (lost a crele and a bielefelder) and I have a buff laced polish egg that doesn't look good to me, but I don't have it in me to throw it out yet. I will check it on Monday before lockdown. All told, I've definitely lost 2 of 18 set (about 11% loss) in the Brinsea Maxi. I'm still worried about my saddle air cell eggs, but I know that there's not much I can do. Here are the most recent wonky air cell photos.






A friend suggested I try to cut down some egg carton slots and make little hatching cups to see if they might hatch upright better than on their sides. Any thoughts? If I've asked this before, please forgive me. I'm exhausted and just anxious that as many make it through as possible.

 

[eclecktic1]

I read about incubating upright for shipped eggs as well. But at this stage, I think the little fetus needs to be able to turn itself so that it can breathe the air in that air cell. My intuition says upright eggs now would have the little girls fighting against gravity too much. You could go back in the hatching eggs learning links and find out what happens each day. A lot happens these last few days with turning and it seems like everything speeds up. One day upright might help a lot before being laid back down.

ETA: Follow the link to Shipped eggs in the Hatching 101 article. It's easy to miss, it's just a post number, and it's at the beginning of the article.

Oh, and at that post there are pictures of plastic egg cartons with the bottoms of the cups cut out to hold the eggs, but the cups are not separated.

 

[livhatcher]

I read about incubating upright for shipped eggs as well. But at this stage, I think the little fetus needs to be able to turn itself so that it can breathe the air in that air cell. My intuition says upright eggs now would have the little girls fighting against gravity too much. You could go back in the hatching eggs learning links and find out what happens each day. A lot happens these last few days with turning and it seems like everything speeds up. One day upright might help a lot before being laid back down.

ETA: Follow the link to Shipped eggs in the Hatching 101 article. It's easy to miss, it's just a post number, and it's at the beginning of the article.

Oh, and at that post there are pictures of plastic egg cartons with the bottoms of the cups cut out to hold the eggs, but the cups are not separated.

Thanks for the advice--sorry so long to reply--got sucked into working today!! I need to look at that page again and at @SallySunshine info on hatching rescues. I am worried about a few of them. The ones that shipped from just 4 hours away (jacksonville, fl) do not have the saddle air cells like the ones from california. I need to hunker down and read. I have just until Monday for lockdown and need to get organized. I don't think I could be more worried about them if they were my actual human children!!!!

 

[livhatcher]

So...the bad news is that I think I've lost a chick. Okay, I know I've lost a chick. I candled and there was just a big black blob with no movement and no veins. It's a floating mass which is sad, but I told myself this could happen on the front end BUT OMG it doesn't seem any less sad right now.

The GOOD news is that I cannot possibly explain this but all but 2 of my wonky air cells look like they have righted themselves. I took photos the other day. Today they are almost normal looking. I can't believe it---and, yes, I've worked and worked for the past 2 days and am a little delirious, but I am really excited!

 

[eclecktic1]

Your good news is wonderful. Just keep focusing on one thing at a time.

 

[livhatcher]

Your good news is wonderful. Just keep focusing on one thing at a time.

Thank you for sticking with me! I am so excited to fill both of those wells with water and change to the hatching mat! Cannot wait to meet these tiny blessings!!!