BAM! The lights go out.

What do you do when you have an incubator full of eggs and your power goes out for several hours?   Unfortunately, many of us are unprepared for power outages unless you have a generator.  It is really good to make sure you have one of these little portable battery chargers that you can plug your incubator into until power is restored.  http://www.amazon.com/Wagan-400-Watt-Starter-Built-In-Compressor  Several companies make this product. 

It's very stressful to have your power go out for several hours in good conditions, but even more so if you find yourself in less than positive circumstances.  I usually incubate my eggs in my upstairs
bathroom so I can keep an eye on things so I have put my little charger in the bathroom just in case I have the need for it. We lost power for over 3 hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon and my incubator was full of eggs.

Needless to say, I started stewing over how long the power had been out.  My son, bless his heart, came up with the great idea of using the battery charger to plug the incubator into.  It would have been a great idea if the battery charger had been fully charged, but it still provided enough energy to kick on the incubator to bring up the temp levels again.  I was sure I had lost all of the chicks, because we didn't have a source to keep them warm.  Luckily, the next morning we had chicks coming so all was not lost.  The goose egg survived as well. 

Get yourself one of these little battery chargers or even more than one if you keep more than one incubator running at a time or have chicks under lights.  It will save you stress and probably save their little lives.