I think I've failed already and it's only day 4 :(

[Hooterville]

Good morning all~

Set my eggsters Saturday morning and everything has gone well until this AM.
I checked on the bator first thing at about 5:30 to find that my temp was down to 78. What!!!!
Found that the plug had come loose from the wall. So sometime right before we went to bed I must have jiggled something that caused the cord to loosen.

Do my babies have a chance to recover from this or are they doomed?

Should I just keep going until I candle on day 7 and see what happens?

Please advise this depressed newbie!

 

[suenrob]

YES!!!!!!!! Keep going!!! You've got nothing to lose, I have seen many posts about temp spikes and most end up ok.

Hope you have a great hatch!!!!!

 

[Matt A NC]

With it being so early in the process, it shouldn't do much damage. Your hatch will be delayed at least 24 hours and I would candle a day later then planned, but other then that they should do fine.

Matt

 

[Tuffoldhen]

You should still have a hatch, keep going...

 

[Hooterville]

OH--you guys have made my day!!

I'll keep on going with my fingers crossed--!

It's a good thing my hair can't get any grayer than it already is--just hope I still have some left in 20 days

Thanks for the encouragement--what a bunch of enablers you are!!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Keep going! It will delay your hatch a little but, you should be okay. Read this from Gail Damerow's book:

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.

 

[Hooterville]

Farmer Kitty---that helps me feel so much better!
I hadn't tried to wrap the bator or anything like that so I'm hoping that the temp dropped really slow.
We brought it back up slowly, too, and I'm sure it wasn't off for more than 8 hours or so. Phew!

I'm sure hoping it will be OK!

I can't believe how much I worry about this!

 

[chicksinthemachine]

Isn't it amazing how those feathered little guys worry us so much, kinda like they are the adopted children of the family. But Good Luck how everyone is doing great. Let us know once you candle them.

 

[Hooterville]

I'll let you all know how the candling goes this weekend.
I set them Saturday at 9 am--I think I should candle Sunday night. What do you think?