What if the incubation process stops for a few minutes...like the incubator came unplugged...the eggs have only been in there for 24 hours?
I would think that it would be ok... if they are under a broody hen the hen needs to get up to eat, drink, poo, etc. So she would have to get off the eggs to do that. As long as the temp doesn't fluctuated too much it should be ok. My first experience with hatching and incubating we had a power surge. We had no power for an unknown amount of time.. upwards to 4 hours... going to the incubator. When I checked the temp it was 70 and humidity was about 65%. That is when we figured out the power was out. we got it fixed and got the temp back steady. We had 4 eggs in there at the time.. and we had a 100% hatch rate.
No problems at all. The eggs take a while to cool off inside. Keep in mind that in the "real world" the hen often leaves the nest to eat and drink. Some studies have shown that "cooling" (actually, removing from heat) the eggs for 30 minutes now and then increases the hatch rate. In fact, Brinsea has that option built into some of their incubators.
