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You are here: Home / Farm Animals / Chickens / Keeping the Incubator Running When the Power’s Out

February 13, 2014 by: RidgetopFarm&Garden

Keeping the Incubator Running When the Power’s Out

Incubator Running Power Out

Around our house, stormy weather typically coincides with the power going out. And this week we’ve had plenty of stormy weather.

THE WEATHER

We had over a foot of snow. We had freezing rain. And, we had a high wind warning.

Incubator Running Power Out

 

EMERGENCY PREPARATIONS

No matter what time of year it is, we have learned to be prepared for a power outage. We usually have plenty of food, flashlights, batteries, emergency supplies, hand-crank radio, etc.

Power Outage Running Incubator

We have well water, which means when the power goes out, so does our water supply. I make sure we have a couple fresh jugs of water, so we can hold off using our emergency water for as long as possible.

Farmer John makes sure there’s a fire going in the wood stove.

We cook by lantern light on our propane powered stovetop.

The kids each have their own flashlight. It makes them feel better, but mostly they just like to play with them.

 

THE INCUBATOR

But this particular storm, my concern really wasn’t about us humans, but about the chicks developing in the incubator. They need electricity to stay warm & continue to grow.

Power Outage Running Incubator

 

FARMER JOHN’S SOLUTION

We have a generator, but the amount of time we can run it usually has to do with how much gas we have on hand. When our power goes out, there’s a good chance it will be out for at least a day. There’s an equally good chance it could be out longer. The first December we lived here the power was out for 18 days. A week would go by & the power would come on for a day, maybe less, then go back out. And, we were snowed in. We didn’t have a tractor at the time to push the snow out of the driveway.

So, we needed another option besides a gas powered generator.
Incubator Running Power Out
Our alternative power sits in a cargo box in the garage.
In the cargo box are two golf cart batteries. They are 250 amp hour deep cycle batteries used in golf carts.
Attached to those batteries is a 300 watt DC to AC inverter. We can plug the incubator into the inverter & voilà warm, happy chicks developing in their eggs. This should keep the incubator running for well over a week.Of course we don’t have this setup just for the incubator, it could run a lamp or any number of other things requiring electricity. Farmer John would like a 2,000 watt inverter so we have the capability of running our refrigerator or stand-up freezer for a number of days. But for now, that’s just wishful thinking.
I’m happy to say that we didn’t need this little setup during this storm. Our power only flickered a few times. Yippey! But, having these batteries & inverter made me worry far less about our eggs in the incubator.

 

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