Jinxed :-(

[feedman77]

That brief of a time that power was off should not have any impact.

Eggs have thermal mass they cool at a much slower rate than air temp in the room.

Ive seen seen hens get off the nest for up to a hour in relatively cool outside temps. And still had a good hatch.

My brinsea had a cool down feature which shut heater of for a desired time length. Never used it but they say it's good for the eggs

You have no worries

 

[Wickedchicken6]

@Wickedchicken6 where's your story about the eggs that got cold?

No, not the incubators fault at all, back up to temp, humidity and turning on time but still, won't matter if the eggs cooled beyond redemption I am on day 12 xxx

You should be fine. I'd be surprised if you didn't have a fantastic hatch!
If you don't, I'd very much doubt it was because of this. (Thanks for the tag Banty!)

Oh gosh, I've had:
1) Three broody hens sitting on 3 nests of Old English Game Bantam eggs. One broody got into the wrong nest box. I estimate she was off the eggs for approximately 11 hours. It was 6 C (42.8 F) and the eggs were frigid. I put her back on them and waited up two hours to candle. There was movement in every egg and they all hatched perfectly fine.



I forgot my incubator off and the lid off twice for most of the day(x2) on the same batch. They were fine. (Tax season...yikes)

I set eggs that had been started for approximately 5 days. The majority had been left outside and in the cold for 12 hours. Two were cold for 60 hours. Most of the 12 hour eggs hatched and one of the two 60 hour eggs hatched.
(Not the big gray girl)
This is a few of the chicks.


Hubby also brought duck eggs home from a damaged nest. Best case scenario was they were cold for 2 days...but we figure they were likely cold for 4 days. All four eggs hatched.

The other two big ducks had already flown away!

If the hatch is too cool for the entire time of incubation, in my experience, most embryos live to the end and die about the time of lockdown of right after. I've made that mistake twice. Both results were the same. I got only two live chicks that were viable out of two dozen eggs. However, they are VERY tough birds.

Embryos are incredibly resilient.

 

[happyhens1972]

Awww, thanks everyone. Your messages have really helped. I was feeling very low at the prospect of losing them all and you've reassured me enormously. Because the RCOM is so reliable, I've never had to deal with any incubation disasters and my 'mostly hands off' approach GENERALLY insures against human errors like leaving the lid off or accidentally switching it off. But even an RCOM cannot fight a power cut so I was completely panicked.
I realise momma hen gets off the eggs when doing this naturally but not for two hours so I thought they'd be dead for sure. Seems I am (very hopefully ) wrong.
I've hatched numerous times in the past but am particularly attached to these eggs...I think because my hubby is involved for the first time. Every time we hear the little jingle go off which indicates the turning, I gasp and say 'Who's that?' and hubby says 'oh that's Tallulah' or 'that's Hilda'. He has names lined up for them already

p.s. He is a 27 year 'hardened' veteran! Lol! Or one soppy ex soldier!

 

[sfgwife]

Hey i live with one of those too! But i think after all the crap they have had be strong for over the years they so deserve to be sappy ole farts. Lol!

 

[happyhens1972]

Sorry, somehow I missed this reply before but it certainly made me laugh when I just found it! You are so right....mine has definitely gone sappy in his old age. I have caught him many a time having dopey 'conversations' with one or other of the animals! And last week, I heard his car pull up on the driveway after work but he didn't come in for ages so I went out to see if everything was OK and found him nose to nose, having 'moustache kisses' with 'Daddy's Larry Lamb' who is , in fact, not a lamb at all but a dopey great white alpaca!!!

 

[happyhens1972]

And now back to my completely jinxed hatch! First there is the power cut drama and now, on day 19, I have had two eggs pip....both in the wrong place!

The first one has pipped in the bottom left hand side of the egg, at the pointy end. It was an otherwise typical looking pip...a sort of 'star shaped' break in the shell. I can see the chick's beak moving and she's peeping now and then so she's definitely alive. I removed the shell caused by the pipping and gently pushed back the membrane slightly, just to ensure she could breathe properly as the membrane initially looked to be sticking to her beak. There seem to be plenty of blood vessels still present, giving the membrane a dark appearance when wetted slightly......so I am leaving well alone for now.....

The second egg, I have less hope for . It has pipped farther down the pointy end but right at the front of the egg. The pip was barely a dent....a tiny pinpoint break with a pinpoint hole in the membrane. I again removed the piece of shell caused by the pipping and ensured the membrane was free of the hole to allow air in but I can see no movement, either through the hole or by candling, and there's no peeping either. I fear she may be lost....possible a lack of oxygen through such a tiny pinprick hole

 

[rita2paul]

i bought a generator for that reason, we seem to get a few power cuts here in England. i lost all my baby fish one year, but managed to save the ducks as they were in the process of hatching.

 

[happyhens1972]

i bought a generator for that reason, we seem to get a few power cuts here in England. i lost all my baby fish one year, but managed to save the ducks as they were in the process of hatching.

I can't really justify the expense of a generator. We normally have no real need....if the power goes out, it's seldom longer than a couple of hours and we can live with that. This is the first time in three years that it's been an issue and it's only because of the chicks. Now I'm really worried that we will lose power while they are in the brooder and the heaters and bulb will all go off....the room they will be in is way too cold for them to survive without the heat. If I'm home, it's not a problem, I can move them or provide heat via hot water bottles but if I'm out.....!

Anyway, some good news....four chicks made it out safely today and two of those were from malpositions. One was from the egg in the top photo in my last post. The other was not from the other egg in that post....that egg has not changed but I can, at least, now hear some fairly vigorous peeping from it and I've seen movement so fingers crossed it will be OK. No, the other malpositioned one was from yet another egg with the pip the wrong end, that 'appeared' yesterday tea-time. The chicks are now drying off in a separate incubator......

 

[Wickedchicken6]

I can't really justify the expense of a generator. We normally have no real need....if the power goes out, it's seldom longer than a couple of hours and we can live with that. This is the first time in three years that it's been an issue and it's only because of the chicks. Now I'm really worried that we will lose power while they are in the brooder and the heaters and bulb will all go off....the room they will be in is way too cold for them to survive without the heat. If I'm home, it's not a problem, I can move them or provide heat via hot water bottles but if I'm out.....!

Anyway, some good news....four chicks made it out safely today and two of those were from malpositions. One was from the egg in the top photo in my last post. The other was not from the other egg in that post....that egg has not changed but I can, at least, now hear some fairly vigorous peeping from it and I've seen movement so fingers crossed it will be OK. No, the other malpositioned one was from yet another egg with the pip the wrong end, that 'appeared' yesterday tea-time. The chicks are now drying off in a separate incubator......

View attachment 1247009

That's fantastic!
Did the one with the hole make it out? I'm late in catching all this.

 

[happyhens1972]

That's fantastic!
Did the one with the hole make it out? I'm late in catching all this.

The one with the hole has not changed but it is peeping and moving and as it still only pipped 24 hours ago, I'm hopeful it will make it out on its own. I will assist if needed but for now, I'm sitting on my hands and seeing how it gets on.

Gonna be a loooooong night me thinks