Help! Power is out and Peachicks are HATCHING!

[Hannah15]

There was a tornado just a few miles from our house and the power is out. I have four peachicks in the process of hatching. All are pipped internally and one externally. I don't know how long the power has been out but I rushed home as soon as I heard and the incubator was down under 90 degrees (humidity is still high). I covered it with a blanket. I can take it to the office, but I don't know how to keep it warm on the way. Would that do more harm than good? I wouldn't be so worried if they weren't hatching right now. Thanks.

 

[Gerbil]

Wish you luck, guess you've either brought them there or are hunkered down by now.
We had a batch of hatching ducklings survive the same situation for several hours without being able to go anywhere and a second time, with chicks, when we ended up getting a convertor for our car and plugging the incubator into the cigarette lighter! We live in a tornado/hurricane hotspot and for some reason they tend to hit at the worst times!

 

[Hannah15]

Wish you luck, guess you've either brought them there or are hunkered down by now.
We had a batch of hatching ducklings survive the same situation for several hours without being able to go anywhere and a second time, with chicks, when we ended up getting a convertor for our car and plugging the incubator into the cigarette lighter! We live in a tornado/hurricane hotspot and for some reason they tend to hit at the worst times!

Thanks for the response. The power actually came back on shortly thereafter. They are still alive at this point, I guess we'll see how it goes. That is actually a really good idea (about the converter), I was afraid of how they would handle the drop in temperature for the car ride too. I went all of the 26 days with no losses of power even though we have had several bad storms and NOW the power goes out! I shouldn't complain too much, we were safe and we still have our home. I can't say the same for many in this area.
http://news.yahoo.com/hospital-1-dead-16-critical-tornadoes-003123548.html

Anyway, if anyone else has any ideas, I would appreciate it in case this comes up again. I'm sure it is only a matter of time. Thanks.

 

[Chilali]

I'm not sure how well it would work for eggs, but I've used those little pocket hand warming packs to keep chicks warm in a pinch. The car converter is a great idea!

 

[casportpony]

Quote: We just bought a generator from Harbor Freight for the planned outage on Wednesday. Good luck with your eggs!

-Kathy

 

[Hannah15]

I wanted to update this thread. All four chicks successfully hatched and appear to be doing very well. They all received a little help, but I figured after everything they have been through that was fair. (They were shipped as well.) Overall, even with these things counting against them, I still got an 80% hatch rate.

Thanks again for the responses!

 

[casportpony]

Congrats!

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

You should post your picture in the peafowl forum!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...n-begins-post-your-results/1250#post_13677369

-Kathy

 

[Rockythgr81]

That is what I was going to suggest, buy a generator. It has saved my "nuggets" more than once! I have never had the hatching problem yet but I have had chicks that required heat when the power goes out.

 

[tridentk9]

A friend lives off the grid. She recently got one of the hovabator incubators that can be hooked up to ?12volt? Batteries.