Flooded!

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
The regular pattern in the rainy season here, and one that you can plan around, is a daily 30 minute or one hour heavy storm with thunder and lightning to frighten the pants off the gods. The nearest equivalent that I have experienced in the US was while we were on vacation in Florida. Low lying areas, even in the towns, can flood in minutes. Recently, as we now get to the end of the rainy season, we have had heavy showers rather than storms and they are not so severe. Last evening's storm was something else and sat directly over us for for two hours but the rain continued even as the centre moved away. Five hours of rain in all. Our lower land was under 18" of water within the first hour with direct rain and run off from higher ground.

You guys in Vietnam must have been sick of the rain given what else was going on. It's a blessing for us in the long run because all this water makes everything grow at a spectacular rate. This really is a green country!

Many of your comrades were stationed near here during the Vietnam War. Some seem to have stayed on and others have returned on retirement. The old USAF base is still in use by the Royal Thai Air Force and is a base for Cobra Gold each year. There's an army base next to it which I guess must have been originally American too. The town is Nakhon Ratchasima, known usually as Korat. Here's one of several websites made by veterans that might interest you:

http://www.frontiernet.net/~freitag/Korat/photodirectory.htm

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
I like that! The floor seems to be the ground along the lines of my future plan. How do you keep the birds safe from falling into flood water from their perches?

 

[Jenski]

Oh, that photo is of the coop and the covered run. The coop sits half inside the run (pen). Check out my BYC page for more pics - -

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=12029-coop_01

 

[thaiturkey]

It's a different world out there this morning!

Late last evening we noticed, to our surprise and delight, that the 18" of water had already largely gone and the rain stopped completely at about 10.00pm. This morning at 6.00am the lake was full to the brim but the lower land has no more standing water than after a 'normal' storm. The broodies were fine in the store room and none of the others had fallen into the lake from the gazebo. We have sunshine too!

The small coop where the youngsters and their mum usually roost has rice husks on the floor. They are soaked so I just have to pull it all out and leave the floor for a few days to dry out before putting more rice down. The bigger coop where the whole flock first took shelter took the worst hit and I'm glad we got them out of there. The water has gone from inside leaving a layer of mud and poop on the lino floor for me to sweep out. Provided that we get a good drying day today the wood should survive. It's 7.30 now so I shall drink a few coffees while the sun gets warmer before I go back out there to mop up.

My main concern is for the 25 eggs. One hen is setting 24/7 now and the other is setting for most of the time as she gets to the end of her laying cycle. We moved the nests, eggs and mothers from the flooded coop as I said earlier and put them into our dry storeroom. I'm not keen to leave them there but removal to the coop, two moves in 24 hours, might disturb the hens. I'll follow my instinct about this later in the day when the coop is clean.

I want to thank everyone for all the ideas and support you have given us. It was a great help to be able to talk this through last evening while we wrestled with the immediate problem and also to get some clearer thoughts on how to avoid a crisis in the future. You're great folk on BYC!

We shall drive around the neighbourhood later to check on some other homes, particularly the family who lost their fish a few weeks ago. Not all homes here are on raised land so some may be in trouble. They have little enough as it is so we must help any that need it. Rural Thai people are very resourceful though so I expect to see them smiling as they clean up and cook in the open.

Let's hope that the rains leave us alone today!

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
I see now. Thanks Jenski. I can modify that for the turkeys. The new coop will be about 20' by 10' so there will be room for 'safe' areas when we get hit again. The heat here means that a 10'+ high straw roof (like old English thatched cottages) is the way to go so we shall have plenty of vertical space to play with too.

Out with the drawing board before 'uncle' turns up with his gang saying 'No more rain, start building today'.

 

[turney31]

I'm glad things were not worse for you. Good luck with your broody hens. I don't envy the clean up.

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
Thank you!

I'll happily share pics. of the clean up! The lovely morning sunshine has suddenly disappeared so I think that I had better get out there and start right now!

 

[thaiturkey]

Well, I can't do much more now other than leave things to dry fully. The big coop is cleaned and the eggs with the broodies are back in there. The smaller coop is clear of rice husks but will take some time to dry. Also, the gazebo is de-pooped after being used as a refugee camp last night. Other than the filled up lake and mud covered grass you'd hardly know that anything out of the ordinary had happened.

Now we have some rain again but the cloud is light today so fingers crossed for a quiet evening.

Thanks again for all your posts, folks.

 

[turney31]

Did your broodies stay on the nest after the 2nd move?

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
Yes, thanks for asking. They are both settled permanently on their nests now so I guess the laying has finished and the setting has started. We moved first the nest that the hen had left for a walkabout. Then we moved the other one with the hen and let her resettle. The first hen was calling and that seemed to be a good sign. I picked her up and took her to her nest. She settled and hasn't left it since. I thought that we would have a problem resettling them but the coop is where they want to be and where all the eggs were laid so they seem to have accepted what we did. They didn't like the storeroom.

Turkeys are amazing. A gentle rain started close on dusk and the whole flock walked over to the main coop where the broodies were. As if remembering their experience of last night, the 14 weeks olds turned around and headed to the gazebo, last night's refugee camp. The older birds followed. We thought that they had settled but mum, who still looks out for the younger ones, was chuntering away. The topped up lake close by is not a place for kids just now! The rain seemed to ease a little and then the old man led the while lot, single file, back over to the main coop. It's crowded with them all in the one coop but that's what they wanted so I closed the door.

We are now on flood watch with periodic trips out with a torch. So far no sign of a repeat of last night's crisis but the rain continues. We shall be shining the torch from the bedroom window during the night, looking no doubt like people showing smugglers the way ashore!