In "Storeys Guide to Raising Chickens", Damerow says:
"The more valuable your hatching eggs are, the more likely it is that the electricity will go out during incubation...[If you have a power outage with out UPS backup] 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 the 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 as usual. The effect of the outage on your hatch will depend on how long the power was out and how long the eggs had been incubating before the outage. A power failure of up to 12 hours may not significantly delay the hatch (except to delay it somewhat), especially if the outage occureed during 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."
Good news if you have another outage!
This message was edited Jul 19, 2008 8:48 PM
I got an incubator this weekend!
i would thought that an older egg would hav a better chance lol how weird is that and the book also says to let the eggs cool down extra weird but that guy is the expert i guess
catscan i think i might have to get this book of yours it sounds very helpful
I know, josh. I would have thought keeping them warm came first. And I don't think I would have the nerve to open the incubator--I guess the theory is that the loss of temp differential/or fan would have stopped the oxygen from flowing through the incubator so it is better to let the eggs get a little cool in order to have enough oxygen.
The book is fantastic--some people find it a little dry--she goes into everything you could ever want to know--even how to preserve eggs in something called "water glass" without refrigeration and all about butchering. She is also the co-author with her former husband of a less technical book called "Chickens in Your Backyard" under the name Gail Luttmann.
I like both books, but I think the one in the "Storey's" series is the more useful. She also has a very highly thought of book "The Chicken Health Handbook" which I don't have. Her later works are under the name "Gail Damerow".
This message was edited Jul 19, 2008 9:21 PM
i might get them to have a look to see if i am doing anything wrong
I have read all the above books, includilng Chicken Health Handbook and they are all very good. They, too, can be purchased at poultry supply houses such as www.cutlersupply.com.
Hopefully your chicks have survived the power outage. Some people even advise to cool the eggs every day as the chicken does when it gets off the nest, but I think that's going a bit far. I'm eagerly waiting to hear your good news. Kay
I too HIGHLY recommend Damerow's books -- the Storey book line are great. Small pamphlet type books with a lot of good information. And the Chicken Health Handbook is well worth the price. A lot of info you hopefully won't need; however, very helpful when questions / problems arise. My two cents worth ^_^
oh dont worry this site is for every one to put there 2 cents worth in
No more power outages! I candled everyone last night and had movement on all the brown eggs. Green eggs I cannot really see into, so they will all just be a surprise! Tommorow is day 18 and stop turning day. Now I will have to see how everyone hatches, ie, deformities from irreg. temps for that period of time. I'm really hoping for healthy babies.
One more question, should I turn one last time tomorrow morning or just let them be? I'm going to give them one more flip before I head to bed in a few minutes.
i would giv them one more turn
Thats what I was leaning on too!! : )
I bet they will be fine--they were pretty well developed when the temp dropped.
Kay--I read the advice to let them cool everyday too. I think it was for 15 minutes? I used it to justify my obsessive need to candle:0).
hope i helped
Oh, one more question I thought of. Should I be increasing the RH for the next few days and if so, what percentage? I've been in the low to mid 60's, and it does seem like I'm having to add more water in over the last day to maintain at that. In the beginning the RH would have been much higher with that amount of water in there.
If I remember correctly, yes, increase RH -- they need it to help get out of the shell & not dry up. We had to put a sponge in (bator sponge).
Hopefully, someone with more recent experience will be here soon to advise.
You are suppose to raise the incubation to 70% during the hatch--I've never been sure if that is for the last 4 days or just during the hatch itself on day 21. I have been keeping it at 70% for the whole non-turning time. The RH will go up naturally during the hatch--I've had it shoot up to 85% after each egg hatched--they release so much liquid as they tumble out. I figure that must happen under the hen as well.
I so envy you!
i keep mine at a constant 75 when i stop turning the eggs
just be prepared. dropping temp is not as bad, IME, as high temps at that late a date... so some may seem OK, but just peep and peep and not eat or drink... nothing contagious, just brain damage or some other development problem. however, if you get one with a crooked neck or splayed legs, we here have lots of experience fixing that!!! keeping my fingers crossed for you!
tf
Thanks for the advice. I will start adding some water to increase the RH a bit. In your oppinion, TF, am I looking at some issues where my temp hit 106 for a few hours? I need to mentally prepare myself!
i read it so quickly, but thought i saw where you posted over 104 at day 16. that happened to me, i got a low pip rate, two hatches and zero survival. they lasted about a week, with a very loud peeping.... like their head hurt... likely the ones closesst to the center of the bator got the hottest. good thing is, the thermometer may not have read the exact temp of the eggs, depending on where you had it. and i didn't see... well, let me read again, was thinking that if they hadn't completley warmed back up then they couldn't have gotten as hot as the thermometer.... keep looking on the bright side, and yes be prepared...
it relaly seems to me you did everything you could to help these babies, you are quite the chickenMama!!! dropping to 90 was fine, and since they got plenty of oxygen on the trips to and from your Mom's i think that is OK too. really interesting about what cat said, i will file that in my brain for next year...
now i see the temp was up to 106 by noon, so it was just climbing for a few hours. your chicks will ikely be fine. i don't thik the eggs can warm up that fast, you got back there just in time ^_^
but it is good that you are prepared for developmental problems. hopefully yuou will kno wwhat to do, or can ask someone here. i have never had the courage to put one down, i always want them to have a fighting chance. but then again i have not had the problems some others here have had...
it would be intersting to know what bator you are using, how many eggs it holds, how many you had in there and in what positions, and where the thermometer was located...
tf
she said it was a hova bator and with an egg turner they hold 42 i dont know how much they hold with out
josh
It is in fact a Hova Bator. No egg turner, so I have no idea how many eggs it holds! The eggs are resting on top of the screen. I started off with 15 eggs in there, down to 12 now. Process of elimation with candling! The eggs have been lying in their sides during the incubation. I have turned the eggs between 3-5 times daily, depending on my work schedule. I even have had my husband turning the eggs for me, which is a big feat, since the chickens are "not his thing"! Off the subject, here a pic of the new kitten we got last week. Shes sooo cute!
awwwwwwwwwwww she is adorable. Cant wait for picks of you chicks. Good luck
they should be starting to hatch any minute now mine seem to like quaker oats the best
quaker oats just dry out of the box i tried mixing them with milk and water but they like them better dry from what ive seen
im so excited for you i have eleven left that hatched june ist i sold 2 and 1 died i think kids handled to much , i had 5 hatch june 21 i gave to a friend and 3 hatched july 13 and are doing well . they love being outside oh hot days the eleven have been free range for weeks now nothing got any yet
everyone loves my rooster my gf is upset he wont let her pet him
My goodness, Ralph, what a beautiful roo! What is he?
My chicks love Quaker Oats too!
i thought the farmer i got him from said he was a plymouth barred rock but im not sure here is a pic of my fav baby he made with a rhode island red or new hampshire im not sure what the farmer told me
heres a pic of his mom
heres what he looks like at 5 weeks
Wow what an interesting color! Make sure to let us know how he turns out.
I think his Mom is a New Hampshire.
heres what they look like when the hatch my gf said omg will it live i said yes its fine they all look like that
So funny! The first time I hatched any I was sure they were all doomed! Amazing how they go from wet, screaming, pot-bellied ragdolls into perfect little fluffy chicks in a just a few hours.
Seems your chick has hens coloring with roos markings. Very interesting. Would love to see what s/he turns out like.
Cat, great analogy. You sure hit the 'nail on the head' !!
:0)
yep she did
hi ralph, nice pictures, your rooster seems part barred rock and part some sort of game cock...a the chick looks very much like a she to me! great job with those babies, gotta love em ,huh? welcome to dave's garden...
jan, loving that kitten!
so, the eggs and thermometer are on the same level, huh? well, then depending on how long they were at 106, just be ready for anything... how many days left?
Janastasio how are the eggs going