Seven eggs made it to lockdown, two power outages tried to ruin the party, and seven chicks hatched anyway. That is not beginner's luck. That is a tiny, feathered middle finger to the universe, and I am here for it. The user who posted this hatch story, let's call them a braver soul than me, started with nine Rhode Island Red eggs. One never developed, one didn't hatch, but the other seven? They clawed their way into existence despite losing heat for six-plus hours *twice*. Twice. I have seen experienced chicken keepers lose entire batches from a single brownout, so this result borders on the miraculous. The only egg that was tossed was the one that never showed a vein, which is standard practice, not a tragedy. The real story is the seven survivors.
For anyone sitting on a batch of eggs right now, this is your permission slip to stop panicking. Incubation feels like defusing a bomb made of feathers and calcium. You check the thermometer every ten minutes. You whisper encouragements at the turner. You assume the worst when the humidity dips by two percent. And then a Reddit stranger comes along and says, "Oh yeah, my power went out for half a day… twice… and eight out of nine still made it." That is humbling. It also teaches a practical lesson: embryos are tougher than we give them credit for. The first week of incubation is the most vulnerable, but a six-hour cold snap in week one didn't stop these chicks. Week two didn't stop them either. So if your power flickers, your generator sputters, or you forget to plug the incubator back in after cleaning, do not assume the batch is doomed. Wait. Let the eggs prove you wrong.
What would I tell a reader who asked whether they should try hatching despite a shaky power grid? Hell yes, with a caveat. Do everything you can to stabilize your setup, insulate the incubator, keep a battery backup or a plan to move the eggs to a friend's house, and check the forecast for storms. But do not let the fear of failure talk you out of trying. This hatch is proof that chickens are more resilient than the internet gives them credit for. They are not delicate porcelain dolls. They are tiny, stubborn dinosaurs with a will to live, and they will sometimes survive exactly what you think will kill them. The user who posted this did not do anything fancy. They put eggs in an incubator, got unlucky with the power grid, and still ended up with seven Rhode Island Reds peeping at them. That is not a fluke. That is a recommendation.