Incubator questions and hopefully answers

[Lisauz]

please please help. We lost power to our incubator during the hurricane on lockdown day. We were hatching quail. Power was out for four days. Humidity in incubator was fine as it was humid as heck here temperatures were not hot enough maybe low 90s high 80s. I’ve checked the eggs some are obviously dead others I’m not so sure I can see the veins and they are still red and I can’t tell if I see moving or I want to see moving so bad I see it. I don’t want to give up too soon if they might make it. We turned the incubator on as soon as the power came back on. That was three days ago they should have hatched today or tomorrow.

 

[JaeG]

Don't give up - there might be some survivors yet. You can tell a dead embryo because they look very black and lumpy. They sink towards the narrow end of the egg and there will be a watery gap between the dead embryo and the air cell. It may take a day or so for this to develop after they die so I'd candle again (try to keep them in the same position they are in in the incubator this late in the game in case there are chicks getting positioned for hatch time) and see if they still look really red and full, or whether they look like I've described.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Well, if the power went out and the temperature dropped...... you might want to wait a few more days after the hatch date just to be sure. Low temperature will slow the process.

 

[Compost King]

I feel for you, I was so nervous when Florence came through where I live, every direction around me had flooding or lost power but I came through it fine and I am hatching now. Follow the advice given already because they can sometimes survive a cold spell.