Upcoming hurricane Irma....might lose power to incubator. What can I do?

[Grima]

Ok so my eggs will be on day 19 on septber 11th. That's when we are supposed to be hit with the hurricane in Aiken South Carolina. I'm hatching Ayam Cemani so they tend to hatch on day 20. I'm worried if the power goes out they will drop to around 70 degrees. Will they die? What should I do? I can't get a generator. They are almost full term but I know even after they hatch they need to be at 95 degrees. Any advice?

 

[Sarah B.]

You could try to have the heat a couple of degrees higher than normal. This makes chicks hatch earlier, but just a few degrees. Too much heat and the chicks will die. Up the humidity too. If you have broody hens you can try to get them to take on the eggs if you think its better but really its just about luck in the end. If you have an oven you can have it on high and put the incubator next to it, and cover it with a blanket so the heat won't go away. Good luck and keep us posted .

 

[Lazy Farmer]

You can always start another batch. Be concerned for your love ones and such. It will be a tragedy for our incubators come sat nite, we are in fl. Sorry about your batch if that happens.. Stay safe and dry. Best regards.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

If you have a deep cycle battery you can use an inverter to generate 120VAC to run your incubator. How long you can run it depends upon how many amps your incubator draws and the capacity of the battery (amp-hours).

 

[adrikeen]

I agree with Hen's idea....I have these surge protector with back up battery contraptions that I use on fish tanks/heaters when the power goes out here (always in the winter and always in a snow/ice storm). I'm not sure how long they would last powering an incubator but you could research that as they make different models with different charge capacities.

 

[tjb]

You can always start another batch. Be concerned for your love ones and such. It will be a tragedy for our incubators come sat nite, we are in fl. Sorry about your batch if that happens.. Stay safe and dry. Best regards.

Prayers from southeast Texas! Stay safe...

 

[tjb]

Ok so my eggs will be on day 19 on septber 11th. That's when we are supposed to be hit with the hurricane in Aiken South Carolina. I'm hatching Ayam Cemani so they tend to hatch on day 20. I'm worried if the power goes out they will drop to around 70 degrees. Will they die? What should I do? I can't get a generator. They are almost full term but I know even after they hatch they need to be at 95 degrees. Any advice?

Praying for all in the path of the storm!! Form liberty county texas

 

[Birdinhand]

I would strongly caution against raising the temp to try and get them to hatch early. high temps are most dangerous to developing chicks. they can handle some time without power and can handle lower temps to some degree but high temps even by a few degrees can kill pretty much on the spot. I'd consider back up electricity some how. sounds like if you can manage it, they will be hatching very soon after or even during the hurricane. I have heard it's OK to have them go without heat for up to 12 hours, as they go into a dormant state. this happened to us once and we had a 70% hatch success. strangely, if you are going to go for the no power approach, the best thing to do is remove the lid once you are sure the power is out for the long term and let the egg core temp drop to ambient, so they stope developing rather than continue at the wrong temp risking malformations.

 

[Grima]

Thank you all very much! I'll
Do what I can to save them! Hopefully the power stays on! God bless us all!

 

[Birdinhand]

I should say that the no heat approach is generally thought to be easier on them earlier on in the development stage. if you can get back up power to them, I'd have it ready. If you find that they are actually hatching during the storm and the lights go out and you are not having to attend to more important things, you could try keeping them close to your body. our body temp is pretty close to the right temp and at that point they will be generating more and more of their own heat. once hatched, keeping them in something akin to a shipping box, which holds heat in and gives adequate ventilation, could just be enough to get them through a couple of days without heat. they can go 2-3 days without heat or food if kept in an box, that's how they can get away with shipping them. bless you and your friends and family during this difficult time!