Have you guys planned what to do with your ducks in case of Emergency?

[aduckstolemyheart]

I hate to T.P again, but some recent weather developments have prompted me to ask.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

It's back in the brooder tonight for my babies.

Severe thunderstorms tonight and most of tomorrow with a chance of large hail and ...wait for it...tornadoes.

Dang midwest weather! It's a conspiracy to keep my house stinky. :|

Have you guys planned out what to do with your ducks in case of an emergency such as weather, or some other unforeseeable event?

We live in Tornado alley here in MO. and I realized today that I had no real PLAN in mind for situations like this. How do you guys, with as many ducks as some of you have, deal with situations and emergency's like floods, severe storms, fires, etc?

How much nasty weather can ducks/ducklings go through outside?

Obviously in the event a tornado actually comes I will move all my ducks down to the basement with us. Should I just bring the babies into the brooder again for the next two days or let them stay outside in the rain until the really nasty stuff hits?

Now I am going to have to draw up safety plans for the future, so that if anything ever happens we know how to get everyone to a safe place.

 

[chickboss]

I have been thinking about this lately. With all of the critters we have, it would really depend on what kind of time frame we had to deal with. My horses and house pets would go first. Then I think I would have to try and save the birds that my kids were most attached to and the goats because if it was a real disaster, like a forrest fire, that would wipe out everything but the land, I would want my kids to have their favorites. And then the most expensive/productive birds, so on and so forth. I don't know how to handle the whole process though, and was thinking about this the other day with all the good weather comming on. There were several smaller fires and at least a couple of larger ones in this general area last year. I realized that I am woefully unprepared to deal with a "farm" evacuation.

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

So am I. And it sounds like we have half the animals you do.

I am not sure, with as many animals as most of us have, how the heck one could pull it all off without some serious planning. I would have all the house animals to get out, as well as the birds outside. Thankfully the horses are at my grandparents (they have better pasture land) and in a lot of weather situations they seem to be able to handle their own. (off topic, what kind of horses do you have? I show Arabs, so I have my Arab mare and my Arab/Saddlebred gelding)

This whole "chance of tornado thing" has me worried. I need to get a good plan in mind for dealing with the birds in the event one really hits. They are pretty darn common in my neck of the woods.

 

[chickboss]

I learned how to ride on Arabs after graduating from a Sheltland Pony. I love them. I have one pretty little Arab, no papers, and a Apendix Quarter Horse who takes after the TB side of the family. I hope to get Amira (the Arab) trained to ride this summer. And am currently trying to find a pony for my girls to ride, but they are gone as soon as they are listed right now. ERRR!

The other issue with evac. is where would we go? I mean, it's not like we can check our livestock into a hotel. LOL. We don't have fam. with land near by. I think I am going to bring this up at the local womans club meeting this month, because I am sure it has crossed others minds as well. I bet we could get some kind of network going.

 

[Sweetfolly]

I call a neighbor to lock all the ducks and chickens up in their pens when the weather gets nasty. Ducklings go in the garage. The only pets that get to hide in the basement with us when there's a tornado warning are the dogs and cats.

One time, I couldn't get a hold of my neighbor, and it was hailing, so I actually left work to go home and get the ducks penned safely.

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Chickboss- I think it is a good thing to discuss! Let me know if you do discuss it at the meeting, I would be interested to hear how others fel about. Heck, I really don't know how birds do in bad weather, or what they can handle, but I don't want to find out the hard way.

I know this is a duck forum but I would love to see horsey pics too. Specially Arabs, as they are my first equine love. My mare is papered, and has a fantastic pedigree, beautiful girl, but BOY is she stubborn, hardheaded and difficult. It must be a mare thing.

My geldings have always been wonderful. She went a little wild over winter. Currently she's loose in the pasture and no ones been able to catch her for the last month. She needs her summer training. BAD.

Annarie- I WISH I had a garage sturdy enough to feel safe with the ducklings in thee. Unfortunately the garage is in bad shape, and I would not trust it to survive a tornado. In fact, I'm hoping it will blow away soon, so I can build a new one. lol

So the basement is about my only option. Do you bring the ducklings in when it's storming or just when things get crazy? Luckily I am a photographer so I have a pretty lenient schedule.

My cats spend every waking minute when they aren't eating or resting, outside, so it's unlikely I would be able to get them in, fortunately they are tough little guys!

 

[toletiquesbysam]

My ducks/geese & chickens all share the same coop/run. Soo if it's bad weather, I put them in lockdown and they stay in the coop until it clears. Do you not have a shelter for them outside that you could put them in for bad weather?

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

I do. But I do not have a "house/coop" per se, I just have a X-large dog crate that I have been keeping the babies in over night and then the larger pen I keep my adult in. It's about 8' x 3' but it has wire sides. The babies also have another plastic crate, inside of the large dog crate to shield them from wind and rain.

The issue I have is in extreme weather conditions such as a tornado. We live in an area where it is common to get tornado warnings on a pretty regular basis in the spring and summer. I have seen storms so bad that tornadoes have annihilated whole neighborhoods, homes just GONE. All within blocks of me. Thankfully I have not been in the path of one before, but living here, I have to say that probably not always be the case.

Their little houses would not survive one of the big twisters if they hit, and we have a small chance of some coming as soon as tonight or tomorrow.

Certainly I am not talking about rushing them in to the basement every time it thunders!

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Also, other people live in areas that may be prone to hurricanes, or flash floods, or wildfires. In one of those instances I am not sure a pen is going to help. I was wondering if other people have evac or safety plans in the event of one of these occurrences. In a lot of areas, people don't have to worry so much about these, but some of us live in areas where it is not so rare, ya know what I mean?

 

[rainplace]

Equibling went through this last year when fire raged through her area. I'll see if I can't find her post, she changed her username so I may not be able to find it. I remember though that they had a lot of animals to load and haul to safety.