Classroom Power Outages and Tropical Climate

[trsam]

Hello! I am getting ready to attempt to hatch chickens in my 2nd grade classroom. However, there are some things I need to work out first. We have an incubator that rotates the eggs automatically, but I am concerned about power outages. I am in Myanmar and we run on hydroelectric power, which means the power goes out for 1-15 minutes daily. Sometimes multiple times. Will the temperature in the incubator fluctuate too much? Also, I am not worried about the eggs getting too cold, as it is a tropical climate here, but what about if the temperature in my classroom gets too hot? How will this effect the incubator? Other teachers here have tried to hatch and all of them have had a 0% hatch rate. I have been doing a lot of research and I think I know some of the things that have been done wrong in the past. I have the supplies and a plan for the new chicks when and if they arrive.

Any suggestions to help this project go smoothly would be appreciated.

 

[Pork Pie]

I think that the degree of temperature fluctuation will vary with the type of incubator. Will the temperatures typically be above 100F in your classroom? If not, then don't worry.

For what its worth, I had a 9 hour power outage about 2 weeks into my hatch and both eggs survived. I would not imagine that such short outages will make a significant differences. Companies such as Brinsea have an optional feature to be turned off for optional periods of time, to simulate a mother hen getting off the nest.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Hello! I am getting ready to attempt to hatch chickens in my 2nd grade classroom. However, there are some things I need to work out first. We have an incubator that rotates the eggs automatically, but I am concerned about power outages. I am in Myanmar and we run on hydroelectric power, which means the power goes out for 1-15 minutes daily. Sometimes multiple times. Will the temperature in the incubator fluctuate too much? Also, I am not worried about the eggs getting too cold, as it is a tropical climate here, but what about if the temperature in my classroom gets too hot? How will this effect the incubator? Other teachers here have tried to hatch and all of them have had a 0% hatch rate. I have been doing a lot of research and I think I know some of the things that have been done wrong in the past. I have the supplies and a plan for the new chicks when and if they arrive.

Any suggestions to help this project go smoothly would be appreciated.

1-15 minutes isn't bad. Like CTKen some of the newer bators have "cool down" periods. Of course, it's generally once a day, imitating the fact that the mother hen does leave the nest. The internal temp of the egg takes longer to cool than the air temp, so een a drop in air temp for a short time, does not drop the egg temp as quick. Granted it's better without fluctuations, but I think even with the minor drops you should get something as long as they aren't lengthy. Being in a tropical climate, I would highly suggest running a dry incubation or "low humidity" incubation (if it's not a high elevation) and monitoring the air cells to know when and how to adjust humidity. Is the incubator you are using still air or forced? What kind of incubator do you have?

I think that the degree of temperature fluctuation will vary with the type of incubator. Will the temperatures typically be above 100F in your classroom? If not, then don't worry.

For what its worth, I had a 9 hour power outage about 2 weeks into my hatch and both eggs survived. I would not imagine that such short outages will make a significant differences. Companies such as Brinsea have an optional feature to be turned off for optional periods of time, to simulate a mother hen getting off the nest.

Eggs are amazing. I've seen people have 12 hour plus outtages and still have decent hatches.

 

[trifecta]

I've lost power for several hours in both of my last hatches and something survived each time- first group was shipped eggs, and I had a terrible hatch rate, but in hindsight there were multiple problems. This last hatch, I lost power overnight, and 5/6 eggs hatched just fine (but a day late).

 

[trsam]

I got a mini generator for the incubator, but I really don't know anything about it. It is small, maybe 6 eggs maximum and has rollers on the bottom. The directions are in Chinese so....hmm. I know the gist of what I should do. It does have temperature control. But it looks like a plastic lunch box. Do you think I can put a piece of cardboard in the bottom when it is time to stop turning the eggs?

 

[trsam]

1-15 minutes isn't bad. Like CTKen some of the newer bators have "cool down" periods. Of course, it's generally once a day, imitating the fact that the mother hen does leave the nest. The internal temp of the egg takes longer to cool than the air temp, so een a drop in air temp for a short time, does not drop the egg temp as quick. Granted it's better without fluctuations, but I think even with the minor drops you should get something as long as they aren't lengthy. Being in a tropical climate, I would highly suggest running a dry incubation or "low humidity" incubation (if it's not a high elevation) and monitoring the air cells to know when and how to adjust humidity. Is the incubator you are using still air or forced? What kind of incubator do you have?

Eggs are amazing. I've seen people have 12 hour plus outtages and still have decent hatches.

I have no idea what kind it is... It is all in Chinese. It has a temperature control and rollers to turn the eggs.