Incubating duck eggs - & power cuts

[cluelessJoe]

We just heard that the local board are to cut local electric power for line maintenance for up to 6 hours one day next week. Great timing as we have 7 duck eggs hatching in a Brinsea incubator - first attempt, and this will be about 16 days in (of 28).
(i) how worried should we be
(ii) what sfaeguards can we be ready to take (like piling a load of insulation on the machine during the outage?)
Advice more than welcome, thank you

[wildwood]

At 16 days the embryos will be over the most temp sensitive period and you have a good chance of saving them. Providing you'll be informed when the powercut is too take place, you can place the incubator in the smallest room of the house and get it up to 25°C. - it will be hard to get it warmer than that, close to curtains unless the sun is on the window. Insulation over it and underneath is a good idea but don't leave it for more than the 12 hours because of the turning needed. Use the proper ceiling insulation if you can as that will let oxygen through.

When the power goes off it will take some time before the temperature in the incubator will drop to 25°. If you don't have gas, you might be able to borrow an LPG heater to keep the room warm.

[follyfancier]

my Grandmother raised her own chickens in a rural part of the country where there was no electricity,she used to keep the eggs warm in her bra

[JonnyBoy12]

In my experience the power always comes back on before they say it will, so could be a lot less than 6 hours.

Put the incubator up to its' maximum heat, and put it in the hottest room in the house in the sun, and the eggs should be okay then. You could also cover them up with a blanket to keep all the heat in.

[lankeela]

On that note I live in Norfolk and helped a 'special needs' gent move house the other day and a press cutting fell out of his bureau which reported his parents wedding - the son of Mr & Mrs Mxxxxxx was marrying the daughter of Mr and Mrs Mxxxxxx - and although not a common name the surnames were the same! (names x'ed to protect the innocent!)

[cluelessJoe]

Thanks to all ... I think that a combination of suggestions will be a smart move. I'm intending to use some spare loft insulation material to keep heat in, though the smart physical move is probably in the direction of the greenhouse. At 5 this evening, the warmest room in the house was probably around 20 degrees, yet the greenhouse was showing 30. Clearly a bit of sunshine outside does help, but I can't imagine how I can get house room temperatures up to that level without wasting a lot of unnecessary heating indoors. Here's hoping, thanks again

[Kleiber]

I think hiring the generator is the best bet - you'd have to be quite careful with other methods, because the temperature has to stay relatively constant. I've had the same problem in the past (my local electricity board cut us off for about 8-10 hours at a time for "essential maintenance") and at least with a genny you can keep the incubator going at its proper temperature (you can run the kettle, too, for a cuppa, and other stuff if you get the right connections - ask the hire company!!) Good luck! K x

[jomifl]

If you have a car, leave the engine running and set the heater to give 25 degrees in the car.Put the incubator on a seat but not directly in the heater output (which could be too hot) and monitor the temperature. It will be a lot cheaper than hiring a generator.

[Kleiber]

What? With the cost of fuel these days? You won't do the car much good, either. It's got to run for up to 6 hours, for heaven's sake!! Cheaper hiring a genny...