What's your plan for power failure

[CARS]

My plan... PANIC!!!

I have thought about this alot since the ice storm that hit this winter in the Kentucky area. People where without power for a long, long time.

Alot of our power is underground in my area but all the transmission lines are still overhead.

I NEED to get a generator just for the simple fact that it would pay for itself the first time I have to throw away all the meat in my freezer. Gosh that would suck. Dozens of chickens, a few turkeys, and 1/2 a cow. Over a grand in meat. I better start shopping around today!

 

[Akane]

I don't worry about it too much. Most power outages don't last long. Unless it's a really cold day in winter and the house isn't well insulated the incubator will hold temp for hours and even after it starts to drop the chicks will still develop down to 96F. Many survive considerably lower for hours. It takes awhile for the inside of an egg to cool even after the air temp gets low. Most of the time the incubator is fine for 8-10hours before there are noticeable losses. If I'm awake when the power goes out or I'm going to be gone for more than 24hrs I hook my incubator to a very large ups system I use to backup my computer. It'll run my incubator for nearly a day.

If I'm without power for days eggs aren't my first concern.... but if you have a gas stove I've heard of people incubating them in the oven with the door cracked for air and the pilot light on for warmth.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

A few words of advice to anyone considering a generator. Decide in advance what you are going to "NEED" to run and size the gen accordingly. I would stay away from the "cheap" ones, I would go with a Honda or Yamaha or try to get one from an RV that is being parted out, the rv ones will typically be Onan or Kohler both very good and all of these will last a long time and the noise of them won't drive ya nutz. Another option is if you or your SO is a welder, get a good portable gas driven welder these all have generator built in. With the welder you can utilize it for more than just power outages. IF you get a gen DO NOT connect it to your house or other electrical system unless you know very well what you are doing. If this is done wrong it can allow the gen to feed out to the power lines and could cause injury or DEATH to the crews trying to fix the outage.

 

[ChanceRider]

I rely on 2 things for power outages: the first is a small, plug in power failure alarm that goes off when we lose power. Most of our power outages occur during the night when we're asleep. With the alarm we haven't slept though an outage yet.

The second item I rely on is a generator. Just had to use it yesterday for a couple of hours during an outage. If I'm not home an we lose power, my neighbors and I care for each others critters.

 

[HennyPennies2007]

Quote:

Amen to that! (wife of power lineman

)

 

[KatieGJ]

Oh man, our power went out a few days ago in a wind storm! My 5 day old babies were so afraid in the dark! They seemed happy enough sleeping on my lap next to the stove though. I really need a better plan, as my neighborhood has the worst power outages. We've had at least 5 since we moved here 2 years ago.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Oh and another thought. Sorry this all comes so natural to me that I don't think about what to do I just do it.

If you are thinking of buying a generator AND you are on yer own private well ya might wanna think about getting a gen that will run yer well pump. Trust me you will be glad ya did when ya have that outage that lasts several days (been there done that).

 

[CARS]

Quote:

Amen to that! (wife of power lineman

)

YES!!! Everyone needs to think about the people that are trying to remedy the situation.

 

[Akane]

Ugh the ice storm 2 winters ago that left the stable without power was a pain because of the well. A dozen horses with no way to get water out of the well. Luckily we got snow, ice, and then warm spell so all the snow was melting off the roof and out in the field. There was water everywhere we just had to route it to the stock tanks and then they ate snow to make up for the days there wasn't much water. Otherwise we would have been at risk of losing one to dehydration and impaction colic.

 

[max13077]

I had thought about that...

I have two set of chicks coming in about two and a half weeks; 25 meaties and 20 layer/pet chickies. I'm going to separate the two kinds in identical brooders. The brooders will be 7 feet long by 3 feet wide. On one end there will be a solid top with a hole cut in the center for the heat lamp. This end will also be insulated on all sides. The other end will be open and unisulated with just a wire screen over it to keep everybody in.

Here though is where the power outage insurance comes in. On the bottom of the brooder, under the litter, I'm going to put two layers of big patio stones. While the light is on, and hopefully will be continuously, the stones will be heated. However, when the power goes out, the stones will slowly radiate that heat back. That will provide at least a little bit of wiggle room and the brooder won't cool down almost instantly.

It's just an idea and I hope I never have to try it, but what the hay?