Ice storm, a week later

[dakers]

I'm sure the severe ice storm that hit several states a week ago, caused the loss of hatching eggs in incubators in those areas. One of our staff members has friends in the Barkley Lake, Kentucky area. They've been without electricity for nearly a week and don't expect to get it back until late this week. It would be tough taking care of birds when you don't have any water for yourself to take a shower.
Those of us that have only received snow and cold, are tired of it, but after hearing a few ice storm horror stories, snow and cold doesn't compare. We haven't from from these folks online yet, but I'm sure we will when life get back to normal for them.
Here's our Indy weather summary (no ice storm) for January. No wonder I was constantly breaking ice out of waterers. Thank goodness for the heated water bowls for my biggest groups of females.
Here are the cold facts for Indianapolis, January, 2009. The average high was 31.5 (normal is 34.5); the average low was 14.5 (normal is 18.5). The high temperature failed to climb above freezing on 16 days. Low temperatures were 10 degrees or colder on 13 days during the month. Total snowfall was 16.1 inches (normal is 9.3 inches). Statistics from the National Weather Service, Indianapolis.

[Cool2Chickens]

I live in Ohio, and although we didn't get the worse of it, It still made a nice mess. Check out my blog for some pictures, I took.

http://bluerunbantams.blogspot.com/


Cool2Chickens

[Pathfinders]

Smack dab in the middle of KY, we were incredibly lucky to have our power on the entire time (except for about three hours when they took the grid down to fix something.)

That being said, I did not put any eggs in incubators, and am WAY behind this year. I am about to set a hatch tomorrow perhaps (am up to my ears in Silkie eggs, :? ) and try to catch up.

I do feel for all those in the state who have been dealing with this hardship. Being a snow-hardened Northerner, I didn't find it so terrible, but then my heat/power/internet were on, so I can't truly judge. It sure was beautiful though!

Here's a photo my daughter Allie took:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm25/PathfindersFarm/2sm.jpg

[Neil E. Grassbaugh]

We are far enough north that we didn't get any of the ice, this time. But ice storms seem to be a regular occurance for us any more and I sympathize with those of you who suffered recently especially since it is a rare condition for you. We did have three seperate ice storms in one week in December. And two more since. None to severe.

What we did get out of the storm that was so devastating to the south was 15" of snow. It is pretty- for a while.

Ohio is pretty well equiped to deal with winter highway conditions but I will say that I was very impressed when we came back across New York on the way home from the North Eastern Poultry Congress. They have the equipment and and the people to ATTACK the situation. Complements to the taxpayers.

[Evy]

Ohio is pretty well equiped to deal with winter highway conditions but I will say that I was very impressed when we came back across New York on the way home from the North Eastern Poultry Congress. They have the equipment and and the people to ATTACK the situation. Complements to the taxpayers.

And PAY we do !!! I have to admit that they do a pretty good job. I remember the similar ice mess in NY's ''North Country'' a few years ago. Those poor people were also without power for weeks. Many farmers slaughtered their cows because they couldn't ship milk, even if they'd been able to keep them milked. Dairys in my areas donated heifer calves that spring to help replace herds. Generators in this area...3-4 hours south...got snapped up within days & more than a few dealers were later fined for price gouging. My heart goes out to all those affected. Memories convinced me to invest in an automatic, whole-house generator last fall. I hope I never need it.

[Antwerptom03]

We were 10 days without power during that icestorm Evy. Many years later you can still see the damage if you look alongside RT81 from mannsville north all the way to the lafargville exit

[tinag210]

We've been lucky so far this year - no loss of electricity. Last year we were at an auction where a generator was selling for what my husband and I thought was a good deal. We discussed bidding on it, but neither of us knew anything about them so it sold for a very good price while we were debating. The very next week ice hit and we were without power for over 24 hours. I lost all the eggs I had in my incubator. We were some of the luckier ones as we had 2 fireplaces for heat and many were without power much longer. Kicked myself over and over again for not buying the generator!!!

I really feel for those who lose power for several days, especially if they do not have "city" water and need electricity for a water pump also. When we first moved out in the country (just a few years ago) and used well water I can remember busting ice in the pond and bucketing water to the house just to be able to flush the toilet. Hopefully warm weather is soon to come!

[greg rountree]

Hello from Harrison County, Indiana---just across the Ohio river from Louisville; we got hit hard!!!! Tuesday 3" of snow--Wednesday 4 more inches of snow with an inch of ice on top for the sweet icing on the cake!!!!Without electricity for 6 days and I feel very fortunate to have it back on.... A wood-burning stove was my life saver.All of my birds are tuff apparently and managing to withstand the weather--none of them have come out of their housing units for over a week now. Its been a real trial with keeping them watered and fighting the doors to open up in the morning as they always re-freeze at night. So far everything and everyone is 'hangin tuff'--the All-American Pioneering Spirit is prevailing here--I hope all of you are doing the same--we really have no other choice....Greg :o

[dakers]

A co-worker just heard from some county extension staff in a hard hit area of Kentucky. They were told it could be 30 more days before their electricity is restored.

[Pathfinders]

That seems crazy. I know the Gov. has called in the National Guard to help. 30 days seems extreme though.

[wyldehorses]

I just got power back on. I had eggs in the incubator, and some chicks hatched out. All but a few of the chicks made it. I grabbed them as quick as I could and put them in the kitchen. Thank goodness for kerosene heaters, and a ventless propane heater. Due to space constrictions, I had to put several hatches together. The smaller ones were the only ones to not make it.

My house sits on a hill, and the only flat area is a 10 foot radius 3/4 of the way around the house and the other 1/4 is a steep drop into a hollow. I have worn out the seat of my carharts from sliding to pens. And when I went to check on my neighbors, and offer them a hot meal they had all evacuated to shelters. They left their cars and everything. I wouldn't have gone, but it would have been nice to know.

And for anyone wanting to get prepared for future power outages, I suggest your local truck stop.I got a power converter for $38.00. As long as my truck has gas, I can run a couple of electric items.

I am concerned about the affects of a power outage on the birds I had under lights. I opened all the windows for maximum light, but what can I expect now. Will the abrupt change in the lighting schedule cause molts, and how soon can I expect the to resume laying?

Thanks,
Yolonda

[gaggleguy]

We were very fortunate to not lose our power at all in Metcalfe & Barren County, KY. A lot of our neighboring counties were hit hard and are STILL without power. I've never in my 21 years had to live without electricity and water, so I really can't imagine how miserible it is. I really feel for everyone out there, and am very lucky!

gaggleguy

[billygoatgruff]

Wyldehorses, glad to hear you are OK..I can see you sliding down that hill now... :lol:

[katschicks]

Lets put some numbers to this ice storm. This is just the Harrison Ar area. And just the electric poles that are down. There are 27,000 poles down. It takes 90 minutes to replace 1 pole. That equaites to 40,500 man hours just to replace the poles in that area. Or 169 days if only 1 crew worked 24/7. And thats not counting the time it takes clearing trees , stringing wires and repairing lines. Add in all the other areas and think of the magnitude of work it takes to get the electric back up and going. Only in America would this be done as fast. Rog

[wyldehorses]

I've never been without power for more than 12 hours. Fortunately, I love antiques, and was able to grab "decorations" off the wall and put them to use. And if you've ever looked at old photos and noticed the grim faces, go a week without power. You'll understand.

I went to tsc and one of the guy said your power must be out. I asked how he knew (Nothing in the cart to give it away) and he said you've just got that look. I started looking at people more closely, and there is a differnce.

Even with the power back on, I find myself doing things in the dark instead of just flipping a switch. The power has gone off twice since it came back on, and the news is asking people with restored power, to limit usage to avoid overloading the systems.

Yolonda

[wyldehorses]

Wyldehorses, glad to hear you are OK..I can see you sliding down that hill now... :lol:

It was funny,everything was sliding. When I went to let the dog out, we both slid down the hill, and had to crawl back on our bellys. There we were side by side, crawling! I lst my acrylic nails, and the dog lost his nails!

The free range guineas refused to get under cover, got iced over, couldn't hang on to anything, couldn't fly, and ended up down in the hollow. I could hear them, but couldn't get to them. And the other dogs. OMG! They were plowing into everything.

Yolonda

[kycalls]

Hi Yolonda....I feel your pain, we lost power last Tuesday and just got our power back today 8 days later...we also lost water for about 4 days and I have come to a conclusion...I just flat would not have survived if I had been born and raised before the days of electricity.

I lost about 200 eggs that were one day from hatch, but it is pretty surprising how quickly I stopped worrying about my poultry and started trying to come up with a plan to keep my family warm in this cold weather especially with a 8 month old baby at home, our county looked like a disaster area...nobody anywhere had heat or electric. I live about 20 miles from town and found myself making the trip when it had been 24 hours with no power..I am not inflating the tale when I say I had to cut, drive around or over at least 15 trees...I think I ran over or around at least 5-6 power lines in the road, all of this on a think sheet of ice covering the road. I finally made it in to TSC where a truck with 50 generators was due to arrive..however there were at least a 100-150 people there to buy them...I was one of the lucky few who bought one...but then almost all the gas stations were closed, however i was able to purchase gas for the generator...

Anyway we got through it, but I am still in shock that everything could just get shut down like that for as long as it did..wow.

Jerry

[littlebit6657]

Jerry,
Glad to hear your power is back on. I just asked not 5 minutes ago if Dennis had heard from you. You could have just sent my grandson up here. :D

D

[Pathfinders]

Hey Jerry, good to see you back online! I was worried about you down there. We were incredibly lucky in our area, our power stayed on all but for about three hours when they took the grid down to make repairs. I am quite behind with setting eggs, a big batch go in tonight!

The second winter we were here in KY we had a power outage that lasted 7 days, so I know what you're going through. The iijits who we bought this house from didn't put in a fireplace or wood stove, and we had no generator then. All we had was a kerosene heater, which we kept in the middle of the living room, and on the table next to it was a crate with day-old Dutch (who amazingly all lived.) Even though we had moved here from MN and knew about snow and ice, it wasn't fun. We were able to dip water up out of the cistern, but hauling water to everything the whole time got pretty old, I must say. So I feel your pain, just not from this time.

These days whenever I hear/see freezing rain, I get all my stuff out and get ready for the power to go. I was really amazed it didn't this time, all I can figure is the local power crews went through last summer and trimmed the heck out of the trees along the power lines, and the big wind storm we had last spring pretty much knocked down everything that was going to go, so there just wasn't that much to fall around here.

The worst part of the whole thing was Colleen smashed my car up good that first evening (hit some black ice and skidded into a big mailbox post), and now I have to get a new (used) one. But she's fine, so I can't complain too much! Hope things get better for you all soon!

[kycalls]

I am sorry to hear about the accident on ice...glad she is ok, I bet it gave her a pretty good fright. I remember wrecking my dads car and having to explain what happened, and I thought the police wanted a detailed report...didnt even compare to the report my dad wanted.

My son Nathan age 11 did manage to save two chicks that I thought were dead..they had hatched out the night of the storm. He made a little place for them on a plate over a burning candle, and basically kept them there all day until the generator arrived...he named one of them Zombie.

I have learned my lesson about being prepared! I guess I lived in the city to long....

Hey Donna...your grandson misses you....and if I could have gotten him to you I would have. I swear that baby always has a smile on his face....always happy and laughing.

Anyway we are all doing ok here...just still cold and its getting way past time to set up all the breeding pens for the call ducks, I am going to have way to many breeding pens this year...but really can you have too many..heck no.

Jerry

[Pathfinders]

I thought there was no such thing as too many ducks?

:lol:

[wyldehorses]

Hey Jerry,
Glad to hear you guys are okay, and sorry about the incubator losses.

And Laura, thank goodness your daughter is okay. I hope she wasn't shaken up too bad.

Yolonda

[denrful]

Good to hear that all of you Kentucky folks are slowing getting electricity back. It's been a LONG/HARD Winter to date here in Iowa, but we're fortunate we didn't have to deal with an ice storm! The average temperature for January here was 10.8 degrees, several nights in the -30 and below range, and that's not windchill, actual temperatures! I've been hearing from a lot of people that have lost sizeable amounts of birds and are frantically trying to replace them before breeding season. I received an e-mail from a small breeder of calls out in Western Iowa earlier this week and had lost 7 birds all in one night, birds that were indoors and heavily bedded even. It's been rough on both man and beast. Now they're saying THUNDERSTORMS later this week-end, won't that be fun on top of all of this snow!!!
I'd keep my eye on that 'Grandma' out in Rockford if I were you Jerry!!! :)

[cmaddalena]

After reading all these posts, I am appreciating 110 degree summers and living in the land of earthquakes more and more.........

[brimag]

I'm with you, Chris. You don't have to shovel sunshine

Brian

[Brice]

dannngggg all that ice and cold temps....... its been one of the mildest winters here in SE Pa... I would be getting call eggs soon if i still had them :cry:
Brice

[kycalls]

D., I dont know how you guys even keep call ducks alive in Iowa.....I would have to wear a bio-suit with a built in heater. Normaly the winters are not too bad in Kentucky..except for the occasional ice storm every 10 years or so.

Florida looks like a nicer place to live every year that I get older....California? I keep thinking its going to be an island one day and I dont really want to be there when that happens.

No eggs here Brice....yet, I am trying to keep them from laying until at least the end of March. I never seem to get fertile eggs until April...I am guessing my drakes need longer sunny days, or maybe all my breeder drakes will late fall hatches...I guess I could put a light on them, but I try to hatch out all my chickens this time of the year so I can just worry about my call ducklings the rest of the summer.

Jerry