Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

I haven't really been hatching this year until now, 50 babies yesterday, and a few late ones today. So what a bad time for the power to go out!!!! Every one is in the house but they are starting to get cold and bunching up. We haven't lost power in the past year so what a day to go out.

What a bugger! If you have a woodstove, crank it up. We used to put them under it when I was a kid. Best of luck.

That sucks- that blasted Murphy again! Do you have hot water bottles? The water should stay hot in your tank for a bit. Hope it comes back on soon!

What kind of enclosure do you have them in? Can you wrap some towels or blankets around and under it to insulate it/keep some heat in? Do you have a BBQ or a camp stove that you can heat up some bricks or clay pots on? If you wrap them in towels they can warm up against them. You can also boil water for hot water bottles if you have them, once you run out of hot water in your tank, as Robbie suggested. If you have them, you could fill up plastic pop bottles with hot water and wrap them in towels for them to snuggle up to. Actually you could probably use glass mason jars too - just wrap those up so they are warm, but not hot, for the babies.

did the power come back on?????

Whew! Power is back on, thanks everyone for the suggestions. It was cold enough that I started the wood furnace in the morning, blower can't run without power but the basement was warm. Every one stood up on their wobbly little legs and huddled together but not a pile on. I was really worried about the ones hatching, since they were wet, I figured best to leave them inside the incubator and the eggs in there would give off heat. Yes, just once I would like to get my hands on that Murphy guy!

Skinny rooster wrote:QR_BBPOST Whew! Power is back on, thanks everyone for the suggestions. It was cold enough that I started the wood furnace in the morning, blower can't run without power but the basement was warm. Every one stood up on their wobbly little legs and huddled together but not a pile on. I was really worried about the ones hatching, since they were wet, I figured best to leave them inside the incubator and the eggs in there would give off heat. Yes, just once I would like to get my hands on that Murphy guy!

You and me both, Murphy's in for a whooppin' . Glad it all turned out well though, congratulations on your hatch.

i keep a pile of those hand warmers for the winter just in case. rip a few open, throw them in. the chicks will actually lie right on top of them. saved a couple hatches this way in the past.