Power outage, what to expect? Help please.

[vonmatter]

I always panic a bit about assisting hatches, let me tag a few who can add some sound advice.

@Debbie292d @TwoCrows

Oh, yep, a little creepy scary, but usually, it's better than letting them die, I just panic already to have this egg moving for so long, and fear the chick would end up suffocating. I've read all the articles here but this part is still not clear to me, whether I should close the safety hole or not, to me if the chick didn't open the outer membrane it makes sense to close the hole in the shell, but I really don't know.

 

[-chook-]

Following to see how it goes for you! Good luck!!!!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hey everybody,

I used a rubber shelf liner at the start of lockdown, now it has been 24h and still no pipped egg but some rolling and shaking eggs.

The liner completely messed up my parameters couldn't control nothing either temperature or humidity.

So I prepared a big sleeping bag on top of me and the incubator, turned an USB humidifier under it, and opened the lid as fast as possible; took the liner out and opened a safety hole in the egg that was for 24h shaking with no piping.

I've checked, the chick is alive and it has not piped the outer membrane, what should I do now? Should I cover the safety hole with wet paper to prevent the inner membrane from drying out or just leave it open?

I believe that somehow the power outages of 12 to 13 hours caused some malposition, besides delaying the hatch.

I would just leave that one alone. It's got to be soon to be coming out. I have to commend you on the creativeness to do that though!

I'd give it a few more hours and see if it makes progress.

This article should help you decide when to break in. It's so hard when you're not really sure when they're due.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[2ndTink]

Oh, yep, a little creepy scary, but usually, it's better than letting them die, I just panic already to have this egg moving for so long, and fear the chick would end up suffocating. I've read all the articles here but this part is still not clear to me, whether I should close the safety hole or not, to me if the chick didn't open the outer membrane it makes sense to close the hole in the shell, but I really don't know.

I help them too when I think they need it, its just so stressful trying to guess the right time. I never like to lose one that should have made it

 

[vonmatter]

I would just leave that one alone. It's got to be soon to be coming out. I have to commend you on the creativeness to do that though!

I'd give it a few more hours and see if it makes progress.

This article should help you decide when to break in. It's so hard when you're not really sure when they're due.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Thanks, I've read it a few times I only don't understand this part-> “A safety hole should be made if the chick has been internally pipped for 18 to 24 hours with no progress”, what if it was not internally pipped but it has passes 24h and is still moving? And also this part-> “Widening it may even lead to shrinkwrapping“ so, would it lead to it even if it's a small hole? And should I close it back?

I've read somewhere, a while ago, to wet a paper towel and cover that safety hole but, I just can't remember it for sure or from where I got the reference.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thanks, I've read it a few times I only don't understand this part-> “A safety hole should be made if the chick has been internally pipped for 18 to 24 hours with no progress”, what if it was not internally pipped but it has passes 24h and is still moving? And also this part-> “Widening it may even lead to shrinkwrapping“ so, would it lead to it even if it's a small hole? And should I close it back?

I've read somewhere, a while ago, to wet a paper towel and cover that safety hole but, I just can't remember it for sure or from where I got the reference.

You had done such a good job ensuring there wasn't a humidity loss. The wet paper towel is used to keep the membrane moist after someone opens the incubator and the membrane dries out, and the chick will have a harder time getting it open. But if there was no humidity loss, it's fine as it was in the 70% humidity.

I don't like using wet paper towels as they dry out. So then you're opening the incubator again to put a different one on. If that's the only egg, that's fine, but if there are other ones pipping and hatching in there, the humidity is rising, and that egg should be okay.

I'm so afraid of advising you to break away the eggshell where its head is, but if you feel you should, that's what I'd do, then see if you can get the membrane off its head only. Then wait a few hours and see if it gets itself out.

 

[vonmatter]

Alright everyone,

Power outage is annoying, in my experience, the decrease in temperature up to 12 hours can kill embryos before lockdown but it does not affect the survivors as much as the fluctuation in humidity. Which can cause a mess. Including if it happens during lockdown as it was with me, with a sudden decrease of humidity.

Anyhow, I have a delayed hatch, all eggs still “alive” got safety holes and I am not waiting much, as soon as they struggle wiggling the egg and pip the inner (viteline) membrane I do a safety hole, and 24h after that I am doing an assisted hatch.

Of course, the 2 chicks I have already assisted still had not absorbed all the yolk (but almost) and some iodine did the trick. Will post some pics soon.

If you are reading this while searching for solutions, here are some takeaways.

1) Wrap the incubator in each power outage with something thermal (jacket/sleeping bag/cover).

2) Whatever you do, do not do anything that could suddenly increase humidity before lockdown.

3) During lockdown raise the humidity to 65-70% and keep it stable.

4) Do not ignore your eggs wiggling around during lockdown, the chicks are not positioning themselves, they are struggling for air. Aircells have at most 24h of air, candle the eggs, and drill safety holes in them. If you open it too big, get wet toilet paper cover the egg hole with it, and poke a needle hole in the paper.

5) You must have a USB humidifier ready for use during lockdown, and always turn it on inside the incubator at any moment you need to open it.

6) Assist the chicks to hatch, by breaking the egg in a circle around the air cell but not in the other parts to avoid damage to the veins, after that apply coconut oil in the inner membrane, this will keep the membrane moisturized and avoid shrink wrapping.

7) Once the “top” of the egg is open and the membrane is lubricated, let it be, the chick is safe and will get out of it as soon as most of the yolk is absorbed.

8) The chick will most likely get out of the egg but remain attached to it, with a little bit of yolk pointing out connected to the egg by dry veins, it stays in the incubator, while it finishes “sucking” it inside. If the chick does not completely absorb it, cut the egg part instead of the tissue/veins connecting the chick to the piece of egg, do not pull it, and spray iodine on the chick's belly and this tissue to dry it out.

*Remember, Power outages delay development so give the unhatched eggs at least an extra week if you are not sure if the embryos are dead or alive.

 

[Echelontheory101]

Hello everyone,
Please any advice would be most welcome

I have had 3 major power outages during my chicken egg incubation, where the temperature went down to 30 C, or even lower around 26 C degrees, for around 6 to 12 hours. All between days 12 and 14.

Well, I was quite sure all embryos had died, but now at day 16, I have candled the eggs, and surprisingly, at least 10 eggs have living embryos on it with no signs of damage.

So what should I expect from this hatch? Will it be a late hatch? Will the chicks have a lot of malformations? How should I prepare myself for hatching day?

Has anyone ever had any experience related to huge power outages during incubation?

Thank you so much
San

If you're willing to spend the money up front I have two jackery 300 battery Banks and one jackery 1000 battery bank that is a lot of money up front but one jackery 1000 battery bank if you're only going to buy one will run your incubator for 12+ hours depending on its wattage it will also run a Cozy Coop heat panel for 8 to 10 hours or any kind of like Coop radiant heater I keep one because I live where we get a lot of heavy snow so power outages in the winter do happen and I also use them in the house when I lose power too, I can plug a lamp in charge my phone Etc and you can buy the solar panel to go with the jackery too. I do have a solar panel mounted on the roof of the coop connected to one of the jackery 300s which runs their fan full-time in the summer but the other two I keep in the house and I keep charged it takes a long time for them to lose charge just sitting so I usually have to plug them in and charge them like twice a year just so they're always at 100% or 99% ready to use in an outage. I know that doesn't help for this round but just some advice for future incubations. I hope everything goes well!

 

[vonmatter]

If you're willing to spend the money up front I have two jackery 300 battery Banks and one jackery 1000 battery bank that is a lot of money up front but one jackery 1000 battery bank if you're only going to buy one will run your incubator for 12+ hours depending on its wattage it will also run a Cozy Coop heat panel for 8 to 10 hours or any kind of like Coop radiant heater I keep one because I live where we get a lot of heavy snow so power outages in the winter do happen and I also use them in the house when I lose power too, I can plug a lamp in charge my phone Etc and you can buy the solar panel to go with the jackery too. I do have a solar panel mounted on the roof of the coop connected to one of the jackery 300s which runs their fan full-time in the summer but the other two I keep in the house and I keep charged it takes a long time for them to lose charge just sitting so I usually have to plug them in and charge them like twice a year just so they're always at 100% or 99% ready to use in an outage. I know that doesn't help for this round but just some advice for future incubations. I hope everything goes well!

Thanks a lot, that actually sounds great… unfortunately, I live in an isolated mountain area in Brazil, not even normal mail deliveries here so I will need to pass, but thank you. Anyway, the idea is great, I have been researching to install some batteries around here just need some extra time (and money) to do it.

 

[Echelontheory101]

Thanks a lot, that actually sounds great… unfortunately, I live in an isolated mountain area in Brazil, not even normal mail deliveries here so I will need to pass, but thank you. Anyway, the idea is great, I have been researching to install some batteries around here just need some extra time (and money) to do it.

That makes sense sorry I must have missed that in your original post or didn't realize. That's got to be really tough hopefully like you said at some point you'll be able to get some sort of battery figured out for backup!