problems incubating

[bigbum1984]

I've recently decided to incubate some eggs, they've been in my home-made incubator for 4 days now, but on the second night while i was asleep the light bulb blew and the temperature dropped to 74*f. I had to get up at 5 for work, so the light had not been off for long, will this have affected my eggs development? I'm worried that I'm incubating eggs that aren't developing, please help!!!

 

[loanwizard]

Only way to tell is to candle them at day 7 and compare to pictures here in the learning center under hatching chicks.
Mother hens do get off the nest every once in a while, though usually not for more than 1/2 hour or so.

 

[thasista]

Hi from KY!
Don't fret yet. I have forgotten to turn my incubator back on more times than I can count and quite frankly it never affected my hatches. I have left it off for over 8 hours in the winter and I still had great hatches. So just like the poster above me said, candle and see how things are going!

 

[sourland]

If they are fertile, the eggs should be fine. They frequently get colder than that when the hen leaves the nest. Welcome to BYC.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, Bigbum1984, and

! Great to have you aboard. Sorry to hear about your hatching trouble. I hope the above posters are correct. You might also touch base with the Hatching/Incubating thread. Good luck to you!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/5/incubating-hatching-eggs

 

[bigbum1984]

Thanks all, is it ok to incubate them on straw? I found they moved around more on the chicken wire

 

[thasista]

Thanks all, is it ok to incubate them on straw? I found they moved around more on the chicken wire

I actually lay a layer of paper towels down on the wire in the incubator. It helps my humidity as well as keeps the eggs a little more still.

 

[BarefootMom]

Thank you all for this reassuring thread. I just set eggs on Saturday and this morning the power went off for about 2 hours. The temp only dropped to 84* and I got it back up to 87* by layering coats and blankets on top. Last night I know some were developing b/c while turning I checked a few and could already see veining.