UPDATE: A Button Quail BABY - See it on hatch cam!!

[arlee453]

I have button quail eggs in the bator, day 15/16 - due to hatch any time now if I haven't already screwed up the incubation somehow...

So, I woke up this morning early to the sounds of beeps as everything in the house came back on after a power outage.

I have no idea how long it was out, but being half asleep I figured there was nothing I could do except hope for the best since it had come back on.

I got up a little bit later to discover the temps in the bator were 77!!!! Apparently the lightbulb blew out either as a result of the power outage, or as just a very unlucky coincidence.

un

Nothing I can do but put in a new bulb and hope for the best. The humidity is all over the place, and of course, the temps are slowly rising again.

What are their chances, guys?? Anyone had a similar crisis on IBW days and still ended up with chicks?

I'm just bummed beyond belief! I really wanted these buttons to hatch!!

 

[PurpleChicken]

What bator do you have and what is the ambient temp outside the
bator. Using some math we can figure out how long the power was
out for.

The eggs should be fine, especially this far into their development.


There are a lot of power failure posts lately.

Anyone as serious as you about there birds and bators NEEDS to have
at least a cheap UPS on the bator. Staples sells one for $50 that is
both a surge supressor and battery backup. It won't get you through long
outages but it will work great for short ones.

 

[seminolewind]

I think they should be okay , too. I think I would wait a day or two then candle

 

[PurpleChicken]

Please check out this post:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=33700

 

[arlee453]

Hey PC - thanks...

It wasn't the actual power outage that was the problem - my other bator was up to temp when I got up this morning, and looked like it didn't dip below 97.7 based on the max/min temps from the probe in the WW.

The main problem was that the light bulb blew out - either before, after or during the power outage. It may have been pure coincidence, or may have been due to the outage. I do have the bator plugged into a good surge protector, but not on UPS.

The bators are my cooler bators - one thing I can say for them is that they are really good at holding temps with the double wall/foam insulation construction.

All I can do is sit and hope for the best....and start thinking of alternate heating sources other than lightbulbs.

Or heck, I should just spring for the sportsman, right?? LOL

 

[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.

 

[arlee453]

We have a PIP!!!

All is not lost!!

 

[arlee453]

We have one baby and two more zipping - have switched on the hatch cam if you want to see the button quail.

They are SOOOOOOOOOOO tiny - you can see how small they are compared to the water wriggler!

The link is the chickNcam link in my sig below.

 

[coffeemama]

Woohoo-just looked at your cam and it looks like a bunch are hatching!!! How many eggs did you have in there? I have 25 and I'm hopin someone will want to buy some quail babies cause that is way too many for me to keep!

 

[flock-mama]

Wow! I love your chick n cam! Very cool!