ashorty7
In the Brooder
- Jan 24, 2017
- 10
- 4
- 19
Hello from South Florida!
Sorry for not introducing myself and breaking any posting rules in advance.
We will probably be hitting the road and getting out of town for Irma. Cat 4 Cat 5 and shingle roofs don't mix.
We have 7 chickens, 3 juvies and 4 adults who all live together in a backyard coop. The coop is wood and probably won't make it through the storm. The chickens generally get along despite the age difference.
My idea is to put down a tarp in a bathroom without windows and cover it with wood shavings (their normal bedding). I don't have a bathroom with a window, so that's not an option. I'll give them plenty of food and water of course. I'm also planning on improvising some roosting bars. A neighbor can hopefully get them outside again after the storm (if the coop is operational).
My question is mainly concerning lighting. Obviously if the power goes out, it will be very dark in the bathroom 24/7 and there isn't anything I can do about that. How will that affect the birds?
Assuming we dont lose power long term, I can leave a light in the bathroom. I have a 4w nightlight in there that is kind of dim and orange. I could also get a 40w 5600k "blueish" lightbulb that is the same color temperature as sunlight... I could put that on a light timer and give them 12 hours of light, 12 hours of dark, or whatever. If 40w is too bright, I could get some lighting gel (I work in television) and can make it darker.
Does anyone have any experience with something like this? What are your suggestions? Wife is very pregnant so riding out the storm is not really an option. We would be gone 4 days best case scenario, longer depending on how bad the damage is. My neighbors have experience with exotic birds, and my other neighbor has chickens. They should be able to check in on the ladies if we can't get back.
Thank you,
Andy
Sorry for not introducing myself and breaking any posting rules in advance.
We will probably be hitting the road and getting out of town for Irma. Cat 4 Cat 5 and shingle roofs don't mix.
We have 7 chickens, 3 juvies and 4 adults who all live together in a backyard coop. The coop is wood and probably won't make it through the storm. The chickens generally get along despite the age difference.
My idea is to put down a tarp in a bathroom without windows and cover it with wood shavings (their normal bedding). I don't have a bathroom with a window, so that's not an option. I'll give them plenty of food and water of course. I'm also planning on improvising some roosting bars. A neighbor can hopefully get them outside again after the storm (if the coop is operational).
My question is mainly concerning lighting. Obviously if the power goes out, it will be very dark in the bathroom 24/7 and there isn't anything I can do about that. How will that affect the birds?
Assuming we dont lose power long term, I can leave a light in the bathroom. I have a 4w nightlight in there that is kind of dim and orange. I could also get a 40w 5600k "blueish" lightbulb that is the same color temperature as sunlight... I could put that on a light timer and give them 12 hours of light, 12 hours of dark, or whatever. If 40w is too bright, I could get some lighting gel (I work in television) and can make it darker.
Does anyone have any experience with something like this? What are your suggestions? Wife is very pregnant so riding out the storm is not really an option. We would be gone 4 days best case scenario, longer depending on how bad the damage is. My neighbors have experience with exotic birds, and my other neighbor has chickens. They should be able to check in on the ladies if we can't get back.
Thank you,
Andy
