Incubator dead. Can't replace till Tuesday. Will my eggs be ok?

[kaffleck]

Hiya,
I had 6 eggs in my mini incubator at 8 days. The incubator died and was cold for a number of hours, but I stuck the eggs on a hotwater bottle wrapped in a towel, with a fleece jumper above to warm them up again, and when I candled last night there was movement in 4 of them. I'm continuing with the hot water bottle but will they be ok, humidity wise, if I just give them a misting each time I rotate them do you think? I live on an island and can't get another incubator till Tuesday so I'm hoping that if keep them warm till then they might survive. Any experience doing this?
Cheers,
Kirstie

 

[loot4louie]

Hi- This is a shot in the dark, but I know you can have succcess with a light bulb. I would put a thermometer on top of the eggs and put a light on them. Aim for roughly 100 F then put in a bator as soon as possible. I would think the humidity is fine. Many people dry hatch the 1st 18 days. I have seen on here that you should not put the light directly on the eggs, maybe put them in a cardboard box with a flap acting as a roof, then the heat goes in, but they are not cooked by the light. Maybe you could even adjust a lamp over your fleece and bottle contraption. Good Luck!

 

[duckyfromoz]

I hope for you they can hold out- but a hot water bottle will not remain a constant temperature. When first filled it may be too hot- and it will need to be filled during the night as well to make sure it doesnt get to cold. In an emergency- it might pull you through - but it might pay to put a thermometer in there to keep a good eye on the temperature. I have only ever hatched on a hot water bottle- when I was needing to be away from the house and took the eggs on a weekend away- they had pipped already too. Sorry I couldnt be more help - but I do hope things work out for you Ok.

 

[kaffleck]

Thanks for your replies. I can get hold of a light bulb but don't have access to a thermometer. Although I can ring around and see if one of my neighbours has one...away to do that too. I'm relieved to hear that humidity might not be an issue. They are in the kitchen which tends to be quite humid anyway.
Cheers, Kirstie

 

[kaffleck]

Update so far. I have the eggs under an electric brooder hen and when I candled them last night they were ALL moving like mad! I'm surprised and delighted. I don't trust the thermometer which is telling me that the heat is too low but they feel very warm to me and I don't want to up it anymore as I'm scared I'ld cook them. Incubator should be arriving today so fingers crossed they'll be ok!