Power Outtage while incubating. Is there any hope?

[SandyC]

I went to Maine this week and left my eggs in my 17 yo dd's hands. WHo would know that the storm of the decade would rip through while I was gone downing trees all over the place. My eggs that were on about day 5 got down to about 80 degrees for about 6-8 hours before she wrapped them and got them up to about 90 degrees and back into an incubator at the house with someone with power at about 24 hours. Do you think there is any hope for them?

 

[Katy]

I wouldn't toss them yet. I've had a couple of power outages but not that long of time period. I'd let them keep incubating and then candle them to see if they're still going. If not you can toss them then.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I wouldn't worry. I had a 3 hour outage at about the same day and temps dipped to about 80. And I've had swings up to 104 for a brief time...more than once. Right now I've only had to remove 2 clear eggs out of 23. The others all have kicking embryos on day 15!! Good luck and keep us posted!!

 

[eggonomist]

We had a 6 hour outage with temps as low as 75 degree's for most of it. The stupid part is I have a car booster pack with a mains plug that would have worked for hours as I'm drawing max 30 watts with the incubator. Next time I'm leaving it pluged in next to the incubator.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Eggonomist...that is exactly what I did when the electricity didn't come back on quickly. We have one of those battery pack things in the car and I just plugged the bator into it...voila...! Who knows...this $89.00 item may have saved the whole batch of eggs. I would highly recommend one to have on hand.

 

[Sonia]

There is always hope. If you give up now there is no hope. Keep an eye on them and see what happens!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I have been through that and my power went out for 5 hours and got down to about 75 degrees...it was cold in the house. I had a 50% hatch rate...so don't give up on them yet

there is hope!

 

[SandyC]

Well, I tried to candle them and have never done it before and can't see light behind the eggs. They are Barred Rock eggs. I guess that I need to find a stronger light or wait until it is darker.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I had a power outage of 5 hours last week on eggs that hatched out this week, they all made it out just fine except one....

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Info on power outages during Incubation.
From- A Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow

The more valuable your hatching eggs are, the more likely it is that the electricity will go out during incubation. If you have an uninterruptable power source (UPS) for your computer or other electronic equipment, consider disconnecting the usual equipment and using the UPS to power your incubator. If the outage comtinues beyond its capacity to keep your incubator running, or you don't have an UPS, open the incubator and let the eggs cool until the power goes back on.

Trying to keep the eggs warm is likely to cause abnormal embryo development. Furthermore, if you close the vents or wrap the incubator with blankets in your attempt to keep eggs warm, a greater danger than temperature loss is oxygen deprivation. Developing embryos use up oxygen rather rapidly, and the oxygen level may soon fall below that necessary to keep them alive.

As soon as the power goes back on, close the incubator and continue operating it as usual. The effect of the outage on your hatch will depend on how long the power was out and on how long the eggs had been incubated before the outage. A power failure of up to 12 hours may not significally affect the hatch (except to delay it somewhat), especially if the outage occurred during the early incubation, when cooled embryos naturally tend to go dormant. Embryos that are close to term generate enough heat to carry them through a short-term outage.