Has anybody been through a hurricane with their flock?

[itom37]

Hi everyone,

Hurricane Irene is several days out, but currently forecast to hit my city of Charleston, SC as major hurricane this weekend.

Has anyone ever survived one with their birds? I think I'm safe from flooding, but I have no idea what 100+ MPH winds will do to my coop... and I imagine it isn't good. As of now all I imagine I can do is lock them in the coop and hope for the best.

Hoping for an eastward swing

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

We are a little north of you, but Charleston is where they are expecting it to make landfall as a Cat 3 hurricane from the last I heard. If you are worried about the structural integrity of your coop, do you have a garage or barn to pen them up in?

If you would like, you can join us on this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=560753

 

[wekiva bird]

When Hugo hit South Carolina, we were out of power for 3 1/2 weeks. Trees down , power lines down every where. We did not have a flock then but we had 14 show dogs and a cat.We had to get bottle water for all of them and us because we are on well water . No power No water !!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need the rain but we do not need a bad storm.( All the the dogs and the cat in the house safe and sound) A very large pine fell on the kennel, Thank God

 

[tasha82]

im from the uk so dont have to worry about this,if i was you tho,and you know roughtly when its going to hit id get the chickens inside,do you have a spare room,or big kitchen or somthing?xx

 

[Patricia Jane]

Living in CA we luckily don't have to worry about hurricanes, but maybe putting them inside a barn, garage or even in the house if you don't have too too many would be safer. I wish you all the best of luck.

 

[ryan820]

If you have the spare room/area where they won't be sucked away by the wind or crushed from damaged structures, I'd take them in once the winds get close to your comfort level. Here in Colorado, which can in fact get swaths of hurricane remnants believe it or not, we cn get very bad winds. My chickens, if positioned poorly for the wind, will go tumbling. While hilarious to see, it shakes them up pretty badly and I would recommend socking your flock away for safe keeping. Also, another trick from the Colorado book, cables thrown over small structures and drilled into the ground by heavy duty stakes will secure most anything from high winds.

Good luck! I use to live on the east coast and would love the tropical storms, once hurricanes, we'd get in Pennsylvania. Nature sure is something!

 

[SEMCNABB]

Was here for Katrina. Turned all horses and cows out. Locked chickens up, they made it but did lose the rook off the coop and everyone was very upset. I would put in kennals and lock inside some where you can check on them. We had to water from the ponds for 2 weeks so you will need lotts of water.

 

[BrownSheep]

Depending on how many birds you have I'ld put them in some dog kennels and keep them in doors with you. Have water and food on hand for them for a couple of days up to a week. Although I don't have much experiance with hurricans here in Idaho

 

[LisaAnnW]

If you leave your chickens in the coop, and the coop starts to blow away your birds won't stand a chance - plus, it wouldn't be safe to go out and check on them. Even the driving rain that normally accompanies a hurricane could do them in if the roof is compromised. I've been through every hurricane since Andrew, but I'm still anxious about this one. I've never had this many animal friends to protect! We already have supplies like a generator, gas, water and food, and with winds forecast at 115mph every living thing is going to be in my house or garage. I had one coop roll all the way across the street with two silkies in it about seven years back (amazingly, they weren't injured), so I don't want to take a chance. I'm taking stock of all my emergency cages right now, and laundry baskets, tubs with a screen on top, and even a cardboard box with holes cut in the side will work in a pinch. I also have supplies to make repairs to the coops afterward, plenty of wood shavings for dry bedding, and antibiotics in case of illness due to stress. Good luck!

 

[The Driver]

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