add me to the list of messed up hatches...

[pbjmaker]

Turned my eggs last night around 10 and when I put the lid back on the incubator the heat clicked "off" - made me paranoid so I checked the lamp next to it and it turned on - so I thought OK - all is well.
Gut instinct was right. The surge protector plug had wiggled loose and my temp was down to 85 this morning at 6:30 am. At some point someone had moved the plug-in for the lamp from the surge protector to the wall and I didn't realize it.
Here's hoping that something survived.
Today is day 17

 

[MissPrissy]

You should be fine. You can candle the eggs and look for movement. It may delay the hatch 12 hours or so.

 

[pbjmaker]

I was afraid to even open it to turn them until it warmed back up. I thought I would candle them tonight.
To bad today isn't day 18 - the humidity bumped clear up to 70%

 

[MissPrissy]

Close enough for government work

It is day 17! Woot! Candle them eggs and let us know what is going on with your hatch.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Info on power outages during Incubation.
From- A Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow

The more valuable your hatching eggs are, the more likely it is that the electricity will go out during incubation. If you have an uninterruptable power source (UPS) for your computer or other electronic equipment, consider disconnecting the usual equipment and using the UPS to power your incubator. If the outage comtinues beyond its capacity to keep your incubator running, or you don't have an UPS, open the incubator and let the eggs cool until the power goes back on.

Trying to keep the eggs warm is likely to cause abnormal embryo development. Furthermore, if you close the vents or wrap the incubator with blankets in your attempt to keep eggs warm, a greater danger than temperature loss is oxygen deprivation. Developing embryos use up oxygen rather rapidly, and the oxygen level may soon fall below that necessary to keep them alive.

As soon as the power goes back on, close the incubator and continue operating it as usual. The effect of the outage on your hatch will depend on how long the power was out and on how long the eggs had been incubated before the outage. A power failure of up to 12 hours may not significally affect the hatch (except to delay it somewhat), especially if the outage occurred during the early incubation, when cooled embryos naturally tend to go dormant. Embryos that are close to term generate enough heat to carry them through a short-term outage.

 

[pbjmaker]

Ok - got brave and candled a couple of the lighter eggs after the whole thing had warmed back up for a while. At first there was no movement but then I lightly tapped the egg and said "hey peep, peep wake up" and got it to move. I quickly turned them all, told them to keep growing and shut it all back up. I do see that one of my eggs that was a ? all along may have oozed. It developed on of those "sticky spots". They look like those little specks of tree sap that you get when you park under a tree. I will candle them all tonight and see whats up then.
I am most worried about the egg we call "Reptar" this chick takes up almost the entire egg now. I couldn't see any movement in his but it is a harder one to see anything in. He is kind of our favorite egg for some reason. (does anyone else name their eggs?)

I know you are supposed to close up the bator on the evening of day 18 - but since I set them in the evening I might close it up tomarrow morning instead.

 

[MissPrissy]

Good luck! Remember we love photos of hatching chicks!

 

[pbjmaker]

And I love taking them!

I have more pictures of my RIR and mystery bird than I do off my kids when they were little. Of course having a digital camera and a computer with lots of memory makes a difference...

 

[goatkeepers]

Good luck

 

[pbjmaker]

Okies - just candled my eggs for the night - looks like they are mostly still moving. Hard to tell with the darker eggs. Tomarrow is day 18 so I will wish them all happy hatching about this time and shut up the bator.

Now who is it that had the "happy lemonade"? I could sure use some...