Today at 4 am our power went off and it did not come on until 12 noon.
In the 8 hours the temp dropped to 80 degrees. Our eggs have been in
the incubator for 9 days. Are they ruined? We only have 10 eggs in
the small incubator and we are only hobbiests so, would it be better
for us to toss the eggs and start over or should we keep them going
for the remainder of the 21 days? THanks for any advice.

Today at 4 am our power went off and it did not come on until 12 noon.
In the 8 hours the temp dropped to 80 degrees. Our eggs have been in
the incubator for 9 days. Are they ruined? We only have 10 eggs in
the small incubator and we are only hobbiests so, would it be better
for us to toss the eggs and start over or should we keep them going
for the remainder of the 21 days? THanks for any advice.

There was something on TV the other night where a man was raising
chicks himself but only had one or two hens. He collected the
fertilised eggs and put them in the fridge and then when he had enough
he put them under his hens (broody I must assume) and they hatched
fine.

Point being dioes a drop in temperature simply suspend development not
kill it?

Steve Newport wrote:
There was something on TV the other night where a man was raising
chicks himself but only had one or two hens. He collected the
fertilised eggs and put them in the fridge and then when he had enough
he put them under his hens (broody I must assume) and they hatched
fine.

Point being dioes a drop in temperature simply suspend development not
kill it?

Yes, but that is BEFORE development has started.
A fridge is not advised for storage before incubating, but its better
than somewhere with wildly fluctuating temperatures.
However -- once the eggs have been brought up to incubating temperature
and the process has started then the chicks can be very susceptible to
changes in temperature and humidity, particularly in the early stages.
Some will have all manner of things thrown at them and survive without a
hitch, others can have just the merest tweak from the perfect and fail.
Incubation is a black art ;)

Storing eggs for incubating has always been a bit tricky here because
of the temp. I don't put them in the fridge but finding a cool room
in the house over summer can be hard :)

All the reading I've done indicates it isn't a good idea although I
haven't tested the theory out myself.

Ginny wrote:
Storing eggs for incubating has always been a bit tricky here because
of the temp. I don't put them in the fridge but finding a cool room
in the house over summer can be hard :)

All the reading I've done indicates it isn't a good idea although I
haven't tested the theory out myself.

One of the problems with a fridge is that the cold can cause
condensation on the eggs which is potentially able to compromise the
'seal'.
Also contamination from other things in the fridge are possible.

But I can understand about the difficulties in a hot climate.
Maybe an old fridge that can be kepts for eggs alone at a higher
temperature ??
;)

Jack wrote:
Today at 4 am our power went off and it did not come on until 12 noon.
In the 8 hours the temp dropped to 80 degrees. Our eggs have been in
the incubator for 9 days. Are they ruined? We only have 10 eggs in
the small incubator and we are only hobbiests so, would it be better
for us to toss the eggs and start over or should we keep them going
for the remainder of the 21 days? THanks for any advice.

Carry on - you have plenty of time yet in the season.
I have had customers who have had a similar situation,
One particularly I remember - he just carried on with the eggs and although
they were late and a bit slow for the first few days he got a full hatch out
of our marans eggs. It does depend on the robustness of the chicks that are
forming and many other critical factors and they may get to hatch and just
not have the strength to make it but its certianly been done before.

--
regards
Jill Bowis

Domestic Poultry and Waterfowl Solutions
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine Nursery
Seasonal Farm Food
http://www.kintaline.co.uk

Good News. We followed your advice and so far 8 out of 10 of our eggs
hatched with healthy chicks. Thanks for the help. Jack

Good News. We followed your advice and so far 8 out of 10 of our eggs
hatched with healthy chicks. Thanks for the help. Jack


On Fri, 2 May 2008 21:45:35 +0100, " Jill" <news at (no spam) NOSPAMkintaline.co.uk
wrote:

Jack wrote:
Today at 4 am our power went off and it did not come on until 12 noon.
In the 8 hours the temp dropped to 80 degrees. Our eggs have been in
the incubator for 9 days. Are they ruined? We only have 10 eggs in
the small incubator and we are only hobbiests so, would it be better
for us to toss the eggs and start over or should we keep them going
for the remainder of the 21 days? THanks for any advice.

Carry on - you have plenty of time yet in the season. I have had
customers who have had a similar situation, One particularly I remember
- he just carried on with the eggs and although they were late and a
bit slow for the first few days he got a full hatch out of our marans
eggs. It does depend on the robustness of the chicks that are forming
and many other critical factors and they may get to hatch and just not
have the strength to make it but its certianly been done before.

--
regards
Jill Bowis

Domestic Poultry and Waterfowl Solutions Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine
Nursery
Seasonal Farm Food
http://www.kintaline.co.uk

Jill wrote:
Ginny wrote:
Storing eggs for incubating has always been a bit tricky here because
of the temp. I don't put them in the fridge but finding a cool room in
the house over summer can be hard :)

All the reading I've done indicates it isn't a good idea although I
haven't tested the theory out myself.

One of the problems with a fridge is that the cold can cause
condensation on the eggs which is potentially able to compromise the
'seal'.
Also contamination from other things in the fridge are possible.

But I can understand about the difficulties in a hot climate. Maybe an
old fridge that can be kepts for eggs alone at a higher temperature ??
;)


At present I use the office as it has air conditioning and insulated
curtains but the best thing is not to keep them very long before
incubating. No more than a week, often only a couple days. Even then I
get early chicks over summer as the temp is mostly 20-25°C in any room
while waiting for enough eggs. It doesn't worry that much. Worse when
people give me eggs to hatch and I don't know how old or how they have
been stored.

On Mon, 05 May 2008 16:16:42 +0800, Ginny wrote:

Jill wrote:
Ginny wrote:
Storing eggs for incubating has always been a bit tricky here because
of the temp. I don't put them in the fridge but finding a cool room in
the house over summer can be hard :)

All the reading I've done indicates it isn't a good idea although I
haven't tested the theory out myself.

One of the problems with a fridge is that the cold can cause
condensation on the eggs which is potentially able to compromise the
'seal'.
Also contamination from other things in the fridge are possible.

But I can understand about the difficulties in a hot climate. Maybe an
old fridge that can be kepts for eggs alone at a higher temperature ??
;)


At present I use the office as it has air conditioning and insulated
curtains but the best thing is not to keep them very long before
incubating. No more than a week, often only a couple days. Even then I
get early chicks over summer as the temp is mostly 20-25°C in any room
while waiting for enough eggs. It doesn't worry that much. Worse when
people give me eggs to hatch and I don't know how old or how they have
been stored.

A hen can incubate 14 or so eggs. She only lays one egg daily and saves
them up until she has a clutch. 14 eggs means 14 days of saving.

I tried the fridge thing and the cold kills the egg by about day 4.

"Gordie" <gordy at (no spam) nolalu.on.ca> wrote in message
news:fNqdnWKdNcirEd3VnZ2dnUVZ_ozinZ2d at (no spam) tbaytel.net...
On Mon, 05 May 2008 16:16:42 +0800, Ginny wrote:

Jill wrote:
Ginny wrote:
Storing eggs for incubating has always been a bit tricky here
because of the temp. I don't put them in the fridge but finding a
cool room in the house over summer can be hard :)

All the reading I've done indicates it isn't a good idea although I
haven't tested the theory out myself.

One of the problems with a fridge is that the cold can cause
condensation on the eggs which is potentially able to compromise the
'seal'.
Also contamination from other things in the fridge are possible.

But I can understand about the difficulties in a hot climate. Maybe
an old fridge that can be kepts for eggs alone at a higher
temperature ?? ;)


At present I use the office as it has air conditioning and insulated
curtains but the best thing is not to keep them very long before
incubating. No more than a week, often only a couple days. Even then I
get early chicks over summer as the temp is mostly 20-25°C in any room
while waiting for enough eggs. It doesn't worry that much. Worse when
people give me eggs to hatch and I don't know how old or how they have
been stored.

A hen can incubate 14 or so eggs. She only lays one egg daily and
saves them up until she has a clutch. 14 eggs means 14 days of saving.

I tried the fridge thing and the cold kills the egg by about day 4.

Try using more hens for laying the eggs.