# Hatching eggs



## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

Like many of you who have lost power, we had a pretty good storm come through and we were w/o power for about 6 1/2 hours. That's not serious unless you're an egg in an incubator and the temp got down to 85 for several hours. This happened on day 16. As of now, we can't tell, but are they gonna make it, or is the whole batch lost?


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Put them in a gas oven with just the heat from the pilot light and turn them over every four hours or so. They'll do okay.

Steve


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## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

Good Idea, but we don't have a gas oven. This is a totally electric house. Maybe we should find a way to switch over.


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## Guapa (Jul 7, 2012)

If I read this correctly, I think I did, isn't a pilot light kind of like a candle? Hope your chicks are ok


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## netandtim (Oct 8, 2008)

Possum, it's gonna be iffy if they make it. Last month we had a hen get off her nest for about 5-6 hours and no chicks hatched. Think evening ambient air temps were in the upper 70's.

You should know in 4-5 more days, though. What breeds are you trying to hatch - just curious.


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## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

Well, we got four - that's about 25% and when we candled them, there were 5 I wasn't sure of anyway. That'll hold us for a while. Someone locally suggested putting a tealight in the incubator (acting as a pilot light) - I'll have to remember that.


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## netandtim (Oct 8, 2008)

Congrats on salvaging some of the batch! Are you gearing up for another incubator run?

Thanks for the tea light tip - need to remember that one, too.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

Possumfam said:


> Like many of you who have lost power, we had a pretty good storm come through and we were w/o power for about 6 1/2 hours. That's not serious unless you're an egg in an incubator and the temp got down to 85 for several hours. This happened on day 16. As of now, we can't tell, but are they gonna make it, or is the whole batch lost?


You must know about eggs..I hope.
A friend gives us eggs every now and then..I was using them for baking, but have had to cut back on baking.
My hiney protested big time...and I still want to preserve the eggs for later.
I read putting the eggs, unwashed, in a bucket of sawdust, not touching, would keep them for a year-- in a cool, dark place.
Have you or anyone here tried that or heard of the results??
Last batch I froze, but can't depend on electricity, so will try this method next.


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## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

netandtim said:


> Congrats on salvaging some of the batch! Are you gearing up for another incubator run?
> 
> Thanks for the tea light tip - need to remember that one, too.


No, I think we're done for the year. We've got a few older hens that've been laying faithfully, but the last two winters we had to buy eggs. So these 4 chicks added to 8 chicks from last month should hold us over for a year or two before we have to hatch out more again.

JayJay - I'm thinking we might try the mineral oil as a preservative. I know Davarm and a few others dehydrate their excess eggs, but I don't have the right kind of dehydrator. I need to do something right now though to prevent having to purchase eggs this winter - AGAIN.


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