How long can eggs last without heat?

[rachki]

My wife and I are heading to my kin up in the mountains this weekend for 5 days and we have about 30 eggs we are hatching, half are bantam, half are a barnyard mix. The trip will take about 3 hours.

My current plan is to crate the eggs, and put the crates in the incubator so that they don't roll around with all them sigogglin roads. The incubator will be off, but we will have the heat on in the truck. The incubator will be plugged in once we arrive at the house. We will return to our house 5 days later and repeat all this.

Will this be a problem? I can afford to lose a few eggs since they're all simply eggs from our flock and we get 2.5 dozen a day, but I'd rather not lose them all, especially the bantam eggs. We are currently 7 days into incubation.

Has anyone done this before? Will this be an issue? I'm not sure how long they can go without 99.5 degree heat. I know that eggs retain their current temp for a fairly good bit of time.

 

[Mimi13]

The best thing for you to do is buy an adaptor that fits in your cigarette lighter that you can plug your incubator into. Those things are wonderful to have. I used mine a month or so ago when our power went out. I took the Bator out to the truck and plugged it in until the power came back on. Problem avoided.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Stanley-FatMax-140W-Power-Inverter-with-USB/38243758

 

[rachki]

Thanks Mimi,

I just picked up one of those inverters on the way home and gave it a try. Looks like it works ok

 

[Mimi13]

Thanks Mimi,

I just picked up one of those inverters on the way home and gave it a try. Looks like it works ok

Yay!

 

[Hseru]

What a clever idea. I'd have never thought of that in a pinch.

Add to list: power inverter for car.

 

[Mimi13]

What a clever idea. I'd have never thought of that in a pinch.

Add to list: power inverter for car.

You know, years ago my DH got all of our immediate family one of those for Christmas. I remember thinking at the time, what in the world am I gonna use that thing for? Little did I know.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

In regards to the eggs getting cold for a period of time, the eggs would be fine. Even with the eggs cooling down for two trips; the trip to your destination and your trip back...the eggs should be fine. I'd be most worried about the incubator warm up, since some incubators can overdo it and become too hot. That can be detrimental to the entire hatch.

If you can secure the eggs well enough to survive a trip in an incubator, using a power inverter is an option.

In my personal experience, travel has always been more detrimental to the viability of the embryo than the egg getting cold. I've had eggs that have experienced a cooling down and staying cold over a period of 8-12 hours on several occasions to 70F with no ill effects. I have had OEGB eggs get down to 6 C (42.8F) in a 12 hour period and the eggs remained viable and hatched. Viability on incubated eggs left cold (65F - 70F) for 24-48 hours can begin to drop.

If I was travelling with incubating eggs at 7 days, I would undertake the journey exactly like you were planning to travel with the eggs in your first post.

When I transport hatching eggs I drive to buy, I repack the eggs individually with bubble wrap in the cartons, the cartons are placed on packages of cleaning sponges within a cardboard box secured with a towel over top and the box is placed on a large, thick, folded bath towel to absorb the shock of travel. My hatching rate improved substantially with the above method. People also use shipping foam and other helpful aids for securing eggs. Three hours is a long drive for any hatching egg.

 

[rachki]

Thanks for everyone's help! Here's the update for those with this issue in the future: We wound up having to do a combo of the inverter + having the incubator off for both the trip there and back.

The trip to my kin in the mountains was 3.5 hours. The inverter powered our incubator for 2 hours, so the eggs were without heat (but still warm) for the remaining 1.5 hours.

The eggs hatched starting last Thursday and we had 10 chicks hatch out of 15 eggs. We're pretty happy with our first hatch!

One of the interesting chicks that hatched is a Black Sex Link, or BR hen crossed with a Mille Fleur D'Uccle rooster, which produced a cute black bantam with white wing tips, and a beard.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Thanks for everyone's help! Here's the update for those with this issue in the future: We wound up having to do a combo of the inverter + having the incubator off for both the trip there and back.

The trip to my kin in the mountains was 3.5 hours. The inverter powered our incubator for 2 hours, so the eggs were without heat (but still warm) for the remaining 1.5 hours.

The eggs hatched starting last Thursday and we had 10 chicks hatch out of 15 eggs. We're pretty happy with our first hatch!

One of the interesting chicks that hatched is a Black Sex Link, or BR hen crossed with a Mille Fleur D'Uccle rooster, which produced a cute black bantam with white wing tips, and a beard.

That's fantastic!
That's a great hatch without travelling so with travelling that's impressive!

 

[aart]

Congrats on your hatch!
Just curious, why only 2 hours on the inverter?

The inverter powered our incubator for 2 hours, so the eggs were without heat (but still warm) for the remaining 1.5 hours.