What do you do if there's a power outage and you have baby chicks?

[gale65]

We ordered our chicks today for delivery at the end of May. Then this afternoon our power went out around 6:30 pm and it was pretty cold. It didn't come on until at least after 8 but probably closer to 9. It made me wonder what we could have done if we had our chicks already and no electricity to keep them warm. Especially since we're only getting a dozen, so not really enough for them to even keep each other warm. It was cold in the house too, btw. We use wood in an outdoor woodburner but need electricity for the blower and the wind was really awful today so the warmth in here went quickly once the heat quit.

 

[Mahonri]

Real live candles in bottles in the brooder?

 

[thndrdancr]

If u have them inside, put them in a small box and cover it with a towel or something like that. It keeps the heat in. I have had to do it before and they really put off a lot of warmth if they are in a small enuff area and are covered. I know they dirty it up fast but an emergency is an emergency. Also make sure they are in the warmest place in the house, and dont put the box on a cold surface, or put a towel under it as well, etc.

 

[catchthewind]

This actually happened to us with two week old chicks on a very cold, stormy night. We have a woodstove, which actually heated the room too much, but the temperature dropped quickly with it off. So we opened a window that wouldn't be drafty on the chicks and had the fire going. I had to get up every 45 minutes for 12 hours to add more wood to the fire. Not sure what we would have done without the wood stove, but a smaller tote is a good idea. I put our chicks in a small tote to move them outside and in the two minutes they are in there, they warm the air up enough that there is a noticeable difference when I open it and stick my hand in. Also, we got our chicks in February from an outdoor poultry swap. They were outside there for a couple of hours. The breeders put them in a small container with hot water bottles and they were fine. Hot rocks (obviously wrapped) might work too if you had a way to heat them up. I've learned in the last couple of months though that chicks are tough little critters for the most part.

 

[miraclz5]

Since we were getting our chicks on March 31 in New Hampshire, I did some reading on the topic....Catchthewind has the best of all that I read about! We had our power flicker a couple of times after we got our chicks with a couple of late snow storms....one of which was a snow day the day after we brought our babies home! LOL only in NEW April Fool's Day storm! Good Luck!

 

[Higins00]

You can use a hot water bottle or those hand warmers you shake. I transported mine and put the hand warmers under the shavings and it worked great.

 

[hikerchick]

I had that happen years ago and someone on here told me to get those heat wraps that you use for sore muscles. I stuck them to the walls of the brooder and they did the trick.

 

[BellaBelinski]

Our power went out at about 3 a.m. today. Our house runs all on electricity, and we have a well which runs on it too. So, when power goes out not only do we not have lights, but we don't have water either.

We are first time chick owners (proud owners of four 5 day old chicks). The temperature in house started to plummet due to snow storm. I have a down lap throw that I put into a laundry basket and put the chicks in between the folds, together. I thought that this would simulate being under a mother hen. They quickly fell asleep, and kept very warm. I made sure they had good ventilation so they wouldn't smother. Of course I used the "sanitize" cycle to wash and dry it.

However, the hand warmer idea sounds a little easier to do. I will definitely try that during our next power outage!

 

[BellaBelinski]

I just wanted to add to my previous post above that every couple of hours I put them near their food and water, then put them back under the throw when they were finished. It was a lot of work, but well worth it.

I will still try the hand warmers next time!!

 

[Christie Rhae]

We had a terrible wind storm that knocked down trees and took out the power. It was one of those sunny but crazy windy days. After about a hour of the power being out I realized "my eggs!!" Ran down to check and the incubator was already down to 80. Ack!! Since it was sunny out I knew my car would be hot. I unplugged the incubator and turners and carried the whole thing to my car, dodging broken branches blowing around and put the incubator in the back seat of my van. Later I checked and it got up to 95. Chicks are due to hatch sunday so I will see if it saved them.