I phoned Hydro and they said it would be back on in half an hour. I didn't believe them. The wind was getting stronger and I knew that it wouldn't be long before more areas loss power. There were only a few hours of sunlight left so we had to get to work right away.
I left the eggs in the incubator. It's fairly well insulated and in a room that was about to get much warmer. It was the peeps that I worried about.
I have 43 little 4 day old chicks in a brooder in the garage which keeps the chicks toasty warm. Without electricity the brooder doesn't work. So, we stoked up the two wood fires in and set up a temporary home for the chicks in a box next to one of the fires. They didn't like the journey from the garage to the house, but once they were inside they enjoyed investigating their new surroundings.
On top of this, I had a sick hen out in the yard. She was so listless and her eyes were glossed over. I thought for certain that she wouldn't make it through the night. Thankfully it was just an unpleasant egg and she's right as rain this morning. It was just one more worry on an already stressful day. But back to the peeps.
As the early afternoon turned into the late evening and the power was still not on, I began to wonder if I would get any sleep that night. I had to keep the fire going at a good rate to keep the chicks warm enough. So I would have to stay up until the electricity returned.
Have you ever put your hand under a hen while she was sitting on the nest? It's wonderfully warm under there. It's like being in an extra hot sauna. That's the environment that the chicks need. And an extra hot sauna is what we turned our house into.
Because there wasn't much light, so the chicks cuddled together and all went to sleep on mass. Then one peep would wake up and all the chicks would wake up and start chirping. Then they would slowly fall back asleep.
The power eventually came on around 9pm, and once the brooder warmed up again we took the peeps home. They sure were happy to be back.
An occasional adventure is all well and good, but there is nothing quite as comforting as home, sweet, home.
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