Snow and eggies and chicks, oh my...

[IggiMom]

We are not recovered from that last storm. Due to the VERY GOOD advice of some on this forum, I think I saved most of my eggs in the incubator although they did get down to 91 degrees at one point. They go on lockdown tomorrow evening. Gosh. There is ANOTHER storm headed our way, and what if the electricity goes off again. Guess I just do the best I can.

I have this mental image of me bringing a big hen into the house, putting her on all those eggs, fixing her with a steelie eye, and saying, "SIT THERE!" Sadly none are broody right now or I might just do that.

Ok--what if--all or many of these poor traumatized eggs hatch out and the electricity goes off again? What do I do? Ok, I guess I could just keep them in the incubator--and put hand warmers under the wire and a blanket over the bater?

And besides, I have 15 chicks from Cackle due on Friday so they will be here too. In this weather, what do you bet they put a whole bunch of packing peanuts in there, also.

AND--I have a few Silkie eggs due to come. In fact, they should have been here, they were sent out Wednesday, and they are not here yet. I truly think they are just lost and they are not going to get here at all. And if they do, how good could they be? Of course I will put them in the incubator if they do indeed come, but I think they are just goners.

I feel as if my head is spinning, and one of my little dogs has been sick with Inflammatory Bowl Disease. She almost killed herself by eating an onion.

Please send out some good wishes, folks, and any suggestions as to what I should do (if there is anything I CAN do) about the poor lost eggs.

Catherine

 

[chicklips]

I am sending good chick wishes your way, We have a storm heading our way as well with eggs at day 3, and it is my first time hatching. I hope all goes well.

 

[Keara]

Don't use handwarmers. The chemical reaction that causes them to warm uses oxygen in the air around them. This will cause a oxygen poor area around the handwarmer, and around your chicks!

Maybe hot water bottles instead?

 

[IggiMom]

Chicklips, good luck.

I am getting a little discouraged. Oh well this too shall pass. The snow is starting already.

I did not know that about handwarmers. Darn.

I think it is time we got a generator.

Catherine

 

[NanaKat]

Several years ago when our power went out for three days, I had 25 three day old baby chicks and 20 eggs in an incubator and no generator just an Ashley wood burning stove.

For the chicks, we moved a couple of wash tubs into the room with the wood stove. I would heat water on the wood burning stove and pour it into milk jugs. These I would set these in the tubs and cover the tubs with a towl laid across a broomstick. The chicks would huddle around the jugs. I changed these frequently. I took the cover off the top of the wood stove and kept a big pot of water there to keep hot.

For the incubator, I set the eggs in egg cartons. We had a metal tool box that I set on the top of the wood stove by putting the grate from my charcoaler across the top. I put an inch of sand in the bottom to act as insulation and to help hold the heat. It was close enough for the heat from the stove to warm the metal box. I put a quart jar of water in the tool box and twice a day I would slide a block of wood from under one end of the egg carton to the other to rotate the eggs manually. I was able to keep the temperature close to 92 degrees.

When the electricity came back on, I put the eggs back in the incubator and crossed my fingers. Ten eggs actually hatched.
We only lost one of the 25 baby chicks.

Necessity is the mother of invention.
Good luck

 

[sben451]

Sorry to hear you are fighting power outages from the snow storms. If you have or can get an inverter (it converts DC to AC), you can plug the incubator into the inverter which connects to a battery (car battery, truck battery, deep cycle battery). You could possibly keep the bator running with that setup. Just an idea. We have a son with disabilities who needs oxygen 24/7, so in addition to a backup generator, we have backup batteries to use with an inverter for electrical items that consume small amounts of AC power.

 

[Spore]

You will get it figured out. Do you have a fireplace or wood stove? If so you always have a backup for heat. Just be super careful, roasted baby chickens doesnt sounds appetizing does it?

I will be thinking of you though, good luck, I know you can do it!

 

[aveca]

we are going to get it this time too. Ive got 17 eggs in the bator and hope the high winds they are calling for dont cause problems. The last storm went right under us, they really got hammered down there. I felt so bad for everybody, you just feel awful for people with bators running.we are going to get it this time, they arnt sure how many inchs we are in for just yet. we are still on the fringe of the storm but expect poss up to 8 inches maybe more you never know which way a noreaster might wander. Funny we are usually the ones who get storm after storm right here, if it isnt lake effect from the great lakes, its a noreaster. Hope you have a wood or some sort of stove and a solar panel will sure run the pellet stove. we have wood stove and 4th generation solar panels run TV and a light during outage. they run on minimum sunlight . cant do too much more than that but better than nuttin.

 

[oberhaslikid]

I had some Black Copper eggs in the bator last year and I couldnt loose them.It was Feb.too. The power went out.I had a little inverter and took the GQF wrapped in a quilt out to my car and plugged into my cigerette lighter.It worked.
I got up every 3-4 hours and went to start my car all night long.The next day I took them to work with me still pugged in to the car and plugged them in at work and left them there over night. The next day after work.I plugged them back into the inverter and back home. Every one hatched.
I now have 2 -12 volt car jump boxes to use for when the electric goes out.With the inverter I can run my bator off of 12 volt.

 

[IggiMom]

I do have a wood stove. And you are right, you work things out. Perhaps I will figure out a way to plug the incubator into the car one of these days.

I think I saved a lot of them but not all the last outage. They got down to 91 degrees.

Now if the snow just stays out of the way long enough for my 15 chicks to get here Friday.

The people in our Post Office are very nice, but I do get the feeling that they think I am a little nuts.

And who shall blame them.

Catherine