So, Cyclone Debbie is working her way through QLD right now. Flooding is forecast for our area starting on Thursday and I'm trying to figure out what the heck to do with everyone. Right now I have 3 separate pens of birds.
Pen 1: small tractor with cull roosters. Worst case maybe I will spend my flood day butchering if needed to make indoor space for the other birds (perhaps even tomorrow night). I was planning on doing this in 2 weeks but it may be the most sane option just to do this early.
Pen 2: new Indian Games that are in quarrantine. This is the big pickle as they have only been here for 10 days so far. They are living in a 700 vari kennel in my fenced veggie patch- they go out to the veggie patch to till during the day and sleep in the crate at night.
Main coop: 12 birds total; 2 roosters and 10 hens/pullets.
I have some cinder blocks and wood pallets that I can use to raise the coop. The main coop is a tractor, and the house is a Queenslander style (2 story) so I can potentially roll the tractor under the house to provide better weather protection in case its windy. This will not resolve the flooding issue per say but will provide overall better wind/water protection (their tractor is an aviary-style since we are subtropical).
Option 2: if cull roosters are gone, move Pen 1 into the house on the enclosed verandah. cover floor with tarps and deal with mess later. The birds will be very, very cramped, but hopefully its only for 48-72 hours while it floods and recedes. Move quarrantine birds under house and put vari kennel up on several pallets to keep out of the floodwater.
Option 3: move all under house, lift coops/pens with blocks/pallets, and deal with (potential) respiratory disease later.
Option 4: take down electronet run and allow chickens in main coop to go up into trees. Don't know if they would figure this out on their own, plus doesn't solve wind/general lack of shelter issues.
I'm going to try to source some extra hay bales today as well just to make sure there is enough bedding, etc on hand.
Pen 1: small tractor with cull roosters. Worst case maybe I will spend my flood day butchering if needed to make indoor space for the other birds (perhaps even tomorrow night). I was planning on doing this in 2 weeks but it may be the most sane option just to do this early.
Pen 2: new Indian Games that are in quarrantine. This is the big pickle as they have only been here for 10 days so far. They are living in a 700 vari kennel in my fenced veggie patch- they go out to the veggie patch to till during the day and sleep in the crate at night.
Main coop: 12 birds total; 2 roosters and 10 hens/pullets.
I have some cinder blocks and wood pallets that I can use to raise the coop. The main coop is a tractor, and the house is a Queenslander style (2 story) so I can potentially roll the tractor under the house to provide better weather protection in case its windy. This will not resolve the flooding issue per say but will provide overall better wind/water protection (their tractor is an aviary-style since we are subtropical).
Option 2: if cull roosters are gone, move Pen 1 into the house on the enclosed verandah. cover floor with tarps and deal with mess later. The birds will be very, very cramped, but hopefully its only for 48-72 hours while it floods and recedes. Move quarrantine birds under house and put vari kennel up on several pallets to keep out of the floodwater.
Option 3: move all under house, lift coops/pens with blocks/pallets, and deal with (potential) respiratory disease later.
Option 4: take down electronet run and allow chickens in main coop to go up into trees. Don't know if they would figure this out on their own, plus doesn't solve wind/general lack of shelter issues.
I'm going to try to source some extra hay bales today as well just to make sure there is enough bedding, etc on hand.