Power outages....

[ChanceRider]

My neighbor and I have placed an order for 30 meat chicks which we're expecting to be delivered around December 11th. I've been so worried about the possibility of power outages and loss of their heat lamp. We live in a very rural area and winter outages are common. I was so excited to find a cheap, under $20, power failure alarm! Now, if the power does go out, the alarm will sound and I can turn on the generator! It's just a small gizmo that plugs into a standard electrical outlet and will give me lots of peace of mind!

(Sorry, I got so excited I just had to tell someone!)

 

[PassthePeace1]

That's good, sounds like you have all the bases covered. When your power goes out, is it off for a long time, or do they get it back up and running fairly quickly?

 

[ChanceRider]

Most of the time power will only be out for a few hours or a day. Last year I think the longest outage was for 4 days... the power came on while we were on our way home from a 5 hour drive to purchase a new generator!

It definitely would be out long enough for very young chicks to suffer from the cold.

 

[PassthePeace1]

Wow, 4 days.....the generator was a good ideal. I have toyed back and forth with getting one. I live in tornado country........and sometimes they can take down the lines so bad, that it takes days or weeks to fix. Foruntunely it doesn't happen that often, but I know if it does again and I am effected.....I will kick myself in the butt for not buying one.

 

[birdsofparadise]

I just had an outage today. The wind took out a tree that fee on a power transmission line. 6 hours with no heat. Even with air temps in the 60ʻs, our two week old chicks were fluffed up and huddled together when the power and the heat lamp finally came back on. Doesnʻt look like any damage though. Iʻll keep my fingers crossed for the next week or so and see.

 

[ChanceRider]

Birdsofparadise, glad to hear that your chicks faired well without heat. High winds cause most of our power outages. We've had very little rain for the past couple of winters which wreaks havoc with the oaks when we do finally get rain.

Hope your chickies continue to do well!

 

[Pumpkinpup]

I always fret over the bulb blowing in my brooders! They are in the barn but it's still very cold inside without the heat lamps. If one goes in the night and I don't know about it it's gonna be bad!

 

[PurpleChicken]

You can buy cheap generators that will run lights for under $200.
They are junk but if you take care of them they will save you.

A good 400 watt inverter plugged into your car can run a heat lamp
or bator.

 

[LynneP]

That's a good tip, thanks. I'm going to watch for an alarm. We've had 2 prolonged outages so far this winter and it sure feels good when we get the gnerator running. If an outage occurred through the night, this wold be important for us, too.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Every time we go to a hardware store I buy several packs of those break and heat packs that are only a few bucks each. Thankfully I had bunches on hand a few years ago when our power went out for 3 days due to an ice storm. That is how we stayed warm at night when we laid down to sleep.
I have no idea what to do about all the chicks since we haven't gotten a generator. DH likes to play with gadgets too much for me to think about getting one. He'd "Tim Taylor" it up so it would blow up the house! Maybe I could fence it in with a padlock?