Power failure during incubation, temp dropped really low

[gilpinguy]

The short story is that the temp dropped in the incubator to 85.5 deg and humidity dropped to 10%. This could have been for as long as a day and a half. I am 8 days from hatch. Should I just abandon these eggs now and start a new bunch or is it worth it to see what happens in a week? I have a steady supply of eggs, I just don't want to waste an extra week if I'm doomed to failure anyway.




Long story is that I had to leave town suddenly for a funeral. My neighbor was supposed to check on my birds and the incubator. Of course Murphy's Law hits and we lost power for a while during that time. Heat breaker trips so heat never back on with the power. By the time I got home, above is what I came home to.

In reality, the temp probably didn't sit at 85.5 for the full day and a half. Once the power came back on it probably took a while before tha bator couldn't keep up and the temp dropped in there. The humidity is my neighbors fault. At least he fed my other birds....

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That could be a problem so far into the incubation but don't fret. Read the following link.
http://www.brinsea.com/Articles/Advice/PowerOff.aspx

 

[gilpinguy]

That was very interesting. Thanks for that!

 

[KYTinpusher]

Many, many people have had successful hatches after temperature drops, even prolonged ones like yours. They may just hatch a day or two late, so be patient. Are you able to candle the eggs to see if there is movement inside?

 

[gilpinguy]

I never tried candling. I thought it was kind of fruitless with quail eggs. Can't hurt to try I guess.

 

[KYTinpusher]

I din't notice this was in the quail forum when I answered.

I have never incubated quail so I don't know how hard they are to candle. Make sure you have a very bright, preferably LED, light for best results. Let us know how it goes.

 

[gilpinguy]

Update:
Out of the 47 eggs in the incubator, I had 2 hatch and survive. One other hatched but was malformed and died shortly after hatching. There were about a half dozen others that started to pip, but never made it.

I opened all of the other eggs and about half had partially or fully developed chicks in them. So frustrating.

I put another 47 eggs in today and hope to have no problems this time.

 

[Shamo123]

Sorry to hear about the bad hatch. Quail eggs seem to lose temperature incredibly quickly in my experience so they probably wouldn't handle prolonged temperature drops as well as chicken eggs.

What was your humidity level during the rest of the hatch and during lockdown? Being at 10% for a day or 2 shouldn't really hurt early on as long as humidity is enough for the rest of the hatch, obviously 10% would be way too low during lockdown.

Good luck with the next batch! At least you have a steady supply of eggs.

 

[gilpinguy]

What was your humidity level during the rest of the hatch and during lockdown?

It was about 50% until lockdown, then up to about 70%.

I am at high altitude (9000 feet). Can this cause any problems?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

High elevation causes issues from an oxygen/pressure perspective.
I don't think issues of temperature or humidity are greatly affected by elevation.
I know people living at high elevation sometimes find a lower elevation at which to incubate.

ETA
I plan on living at high elevation one day. I'm already planning on a place down slope where I can incubate. It's not really cold there just rarified air.