Power out for almost 24 hours

[stahlt12345]

I have some chicken eggs I put in my incubator about 4 days ago. My electricity was off from 1:00pm until 11:00 am. I have the incubator back on. It is taking forever for it to warm back up. Current temp is 80 degrees. Should I just trash them? I live in Michigan...so the incubator temp got down to 65 degrees.

 

[sumi]

No, they should be o.k. but the cool down period may have delayed the embryos' development, so expect them to possibly hatch a day later than expected. You can candle them on day 7 and again on day to make sure they are o.k.

 

[stahlt12345]

Thank you so much! Will try it. So, candle on day 7 and then when? I have a candler from the Farm Innovators (came with the incubator). I am sure the incubator will cool down when I am candling. Do you remove all eggs first and close the incubator back up?

 

[sumi]

You can candle ever day, up to day 18 if you like. Take the eggs out one by one to candle and close the incubator lid in-between. The temp and humidity will drop, but it's o.k. Think of it as the same as when a broody gets up from her eggs to take a break, grab a bite to eat etc.

 

[stahlt12345]

I wanted to add...I started the incubation on Wednesday, March 13th around 3pm. The electric went out around 1pm on Friday March 15th. So, they were cold 24 hours starting on day 2?

 

[stahlt12345]

And, how does this effect my day count? If started incubation on Mar 13th. Day 1 is March 14th. Day 18 is Mar 31st. This may sound silly...but, you are seriously supposed to leave the chicks in the incubator at least until they dry?

 

[sumi]

With that lengthy cool down period you could expect them to hatch a day late, at least. Candle to keep track of development and lockdown on day 18-19. In this situation I'd lockdown early on day 19.
It is better to leave the chicks in the incubator until they dry, at least, which can take awhile. Depending on the humidity level in there. A hatching chick tends to up the humidity quite a bit. I have a smallish incubator and in mine one chick send the humidity up by 8%. Some people leave the chicks in the incubators for 24 hours after hatch.

 

[stahlt12345]

Today is day 18. I am seeing chicks when candling. Okay, so what is lockdown? Lol. Sorry, I don't know. I have taken the eggs off the turner. Do I still turn them 3 or 4 times a day? Thank you! Teresa

 

[sumi]

I'd say give them one more turn and increase the humidity until you are up to 60%. When you see the first pip bump up it a bit more. Good luck with the hatch!