Hatching Eggs During Load Shedding and Power Cuts

What happens to eggs when the power goes off

When the incubator stops, the eggs cool slowly. Embryos slow their development while cool and carry on when warmed again; a batch that loses power for a couple of hours will usually still hatch, perhaps a little late. Long outages and repeated outages, especially in the last week when embryos produce their own heat and need more oxygen, are more dangerous.

During an outage

1. Keep the incubator closed. Every opening lets heat and humidity out.
2. Insulate it. Cover the incubator with a blanket to slow cooling, but remove it as soon as power returns so the machine can ventilate.
3. Warm the room if you safely can. A warmer room means slower cooling.
4. Do not add hot water or heat sources inside the incubator.
5. Check after power returns that the machine restarts and reaches its set temperature.

Expect the hatch to run a little later than the date from the hatch date calculator, and do not give up on the eggs too early.

Backup power options

• UPS or inverter with a battery: quiet and automatic. Size it using the wattage on your incubator’s label and the longest outage you expect.
• Generator: good for long outages and large machines; start it manually or with an automatic changeover switch.
• Solar with batteries: the most expensive to install but covers both outages and running costs.

Tell us the model you are buying and we can give you its power details to discuss with your backup-power installer.

Plan your hatch around outages

When load-shedding schedules are published, check them before you set eggs and avoid having lockdown and hatch day fall on the worst days. Commercial hatcheries should treat backup power as essential, not optional. Read more about incubators built for South African conditions.