Chicken tractors and hurricanes

[Dmontgomery]

Oo. That's a great idea, dmontgomery. Thanks!

"Shed anchors" from Lowe's are about $8 each here. 2" wide ratchet strap prices vary depending on how long you need them to be. Good luck. I hope you never need them.

 

[altballard]

I spent over 3 decades in south Louisiana, mostly outside of New Orleans. Have you heard of Katrina? I got to shake her hand. I can’t count all of the hurricanes I went through down there. Most buildings, outbuildings as well as houses, can take the wind pretty well. If there is damage it’s usually to the roof. The chickens and the tractor can probably survive that quite well inside most outbuildings.

In case you haven’t spent a major portion of your life in hurricane country, most if the damage comes from water, not wind. Rainfall can be heavy and cause flooding, but the storm surge, the water blown in for offshore, is what normally causes the majority of deaths and massive property damage. The OP is in north central Florida and should be safe from storm surge. Most hurricanes lose a lot of strength as they hit land, that’s just the way they work. Katrina was a category 5 out over open water but was down to a category 3 when she hit land. So by the time the winds get to north central Florida, they should have weakened. The really strong hurricanes can still cause severe wind damage but those are fairly rare. A lot of roofs were damaged in Katrina, she was still that strong. But the biggest problem with wind in a majority of hurricanes is that they blow trees down and cause power outages. Flying debris can cause damage too.

It’s not that wind doesn’t cause damage, it can and does, but most outbuildings are going to survive. The chickens and the tractor are going to be a lot safer in an outbuilding than outside. Mule & Flash would have to determine how safe they think their buildings are if they decide to try that. The only advantage with hurricanes is that you can see them coming and prepare.

George, as shocking as it may be to you, I had two outbuildings that went through many hurricanes, including Katrina. Neither were ever damaged.

Not sure if you'll get this! Being is Architecture we have to design buildings to Miami-Dade here in Coastal SC because a playing deck of cards can in Hurricane winds be pushed into wood half the card depth. That same card could kill a person because of soft tissue. This is NOT the norms just what we HAVE to design to. I just wanted to add to what you had said. Mathew went right over our heads here in SC when it made land it was the backside when we lost power and was more scary to me. With Erin now out in the ocean and no0one knowing yet what she'll do I'm wanting to do something different so that I could have a chicken tractor in the future for housing. The one we have we took the tarp off and use it for "protective ranging" because of hawks when we can't be outside. But of course Chicken Math and a tractor would be more cost affective for breeder pens.
Amazon sells ground anchors that worked great on our little greenhouse during some 70mph winds this spring, hoping the greenhouse it's self holds up the stronger ones though. But they would depend on soil type, we're sand so they are about 2' deep I would think any other type would need to be much deeper!

 

[Ridgerunner]

we're sand so they are about 2' deep I would think any other type would need to be much deeper!

When camping on the beach with the Boy Scuts decades ago, I made sand anchors by drilling a hole in a plywood disk, attaching a rope, and burying it a foot or so down. One on each corner. My tent stayed upright during a squall. All other tents were flattened. Those boys had a great time. What an adventure!