Electricity went out with eggs in the bator

[tonini3059]

My electricity went out last night for about 14 hours. Meanwhile I have 15 week old eggs in there. The temp went down to 73 degrees. Do you think they will be ok? They are dark eggs and we can't see in them.

 

[Buster]

They can still make it. I had two power outages where the power was out for 4 hours and the temp was down to about 70-75. I would keep incubating them and candle them around day 11 or so and check for signs of life. I had good hatches out of my power outage batches so I know that it isn't necessarily the end if the power goes out. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[tonini3059]

Thanks I will. I was bummed out thinking that they were dead!

 

[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.

 

[deerman]

Some will still hatch. Check this thread when I lost power for days. Still hatch

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=85186&p=1

 

[Snakeoil]

I would complete the hatch time, you never know.

 

[twigg]

Quote:
I suspect that you meant 15 day old eggs

Power outages are rarely helpful. You are just into week three, so it will be less damaging than during the first 7 days. I would persevere with it.

Contrary to other advice, you can keep eggs up to temp during a 12 hour power loss by insulating the box, and, once the temp has dropped a couple of degrees, placing bowls of hot water in the incubator.

As you are likely watching it closely, you will do no more harm than the power outage caused anyway. If you are managing the temp manually, you can be creative in keeping the temp up without much fear of harm.

Let's face it, if the power stays out much longer, they are dead anyway.

 

[Buster]

I took it to mean that the OP has 15 (one) week old eggs. When my power went out I put blankets over the bators.

Sounds like the power was out for 14 hours and it's back on now. After my first two power outages I borrowed my dad's generator for the winter.

 

[twigg]

Quote:
I did what you did

3 hours in I put hot water in the incubator, the temp never fell below 95. The power came on after 5 hours.

They all hatched, Bless 'em

 

[Chickapooh23]

Quote:
My power was out yesterday also. The temp was down to 75 for about 4 hours before we woke up and started the generator. I The are Easter eggers and I am not sure if I will be able to tell anything on Sunday (that's when they are due to be candled).