what do i do when the power goes out?!?

bibliophile birds

Songster
10 Years
Oct 4, 2009
828
9
131
Great Smoky Mtns, Tennessee
i've got 22 1.5 week old chicks brooding in my sunroom. 2 days ago, the power went out for an hour and i panicked. it's not even cold yet and it was the middle of the day. it was just so scary for me, and them: they all piled up in the corner of the brooder and squawked like the world was ending! i tried using a flashlight for extra light to calm them, but it didn't work.

well, tonight there is a tornado warning and i just know the power is going to go off again. this time it could be a lot longer than an hour, too. like i said, it's not cold yet, but i'm afraid that if the power is out long they will suffocate each other because they are panicked.

does anyone have any suggestions for keeping them safe?
 
I would some soft bedding in a box just big enugh for them with a lid. if you don't have one the right size, you can make one by tapeing some together. they will need some holes for breathing, but the closed in space will hold the heat close to them so they will not crowd as much. you mite even lay a light rag over them after the seddle if you think they need
 
Have a way to boil water other then electricity? Camp stove, grill? I've boiled water and placed it in a metal water container and set it in the small box and they huddled their little butts around it, it was cute. ANy container that can hold boiled water will work. I've even place containers of boiled water in our fish tank to keep the temp up during a 3 day ice storm.
I used boiled water in a water bottle when I drove 1 hour to get 2 days olds, I wanted to keep them warm, no crying peeps, it worked.
 
The very small generators are not that highly priced. My generator is a life saver. You could also get those water bags (not sure what they are called). They are actually for enemas
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But, you could fill them up with hot water. Also, milk jugs would work for a little while.
 
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thanks for the suggestions. i've got a fireplace that i could always heat water on if it came down to that.

the power flickered off a bit ago, but it was only for a few minutes. the houses on the other side of the road, however, weren't so lucky.
 
You could always get a power inverter from any truck stop. I have a 800 watt that I can hook to a battery. It will run my bator and brooders. If the battery starts to run dead the inverter will start to beap and I can take it outside and hook it up to my truck battery and start the truck if I need to.
 

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