High wind warning

[Redfeathers]

I'm not an alarmist by any means but they say we are going to get some nasty wind gusts and rain tomorrow. I have 9 week old Polish outside in their pen, should I keep them cooped up all day tomorrow or will they be ok in the wind. The rain won't bother them too much, they are under a canopy of pine trees that keep the run pretty dry...but when it blows through them it's really cold. Any opinions? Thanks.

 

[Wildsky]

Gosh I'm not sure, my girls are around 10 or 11 weeks now, but they have access to run inside the coop if things get hairy outside.
They come out in high winds, but not for long. (MY high wind is anything over 25)

We're also under a warning right now - but thank goodness no wind yet.

 

[Redfeathers]

Well, the coop is open, but being so young I'm not sure if they will seek shelter on their own or what. We are supposed to get around 45mph gusts and worse on the coast. I know this is a common sense kind of thing but I do wonder if wind can harm them at such a young age.

 

[chickengirlnm]

today we have winds around 50 + and I am keeping a close eye on my chickens mine are about 16 weeks when the winds really get to gusting they will lay down until it passes but most of them are running into the coop when things get to much for them they have food and water in thier house so if they dont want to come out they will be fine.

if I were you I would just make it to where they can still go into thier house if they feel like they need a place to go -

 

[DuckLady]

I have wrapped the coop in a tarp to block out winds when we have high wind warnings. I lso make sure there is nothing loose to blow over on a chicken or duck. We usually have tables with umbrellas out for shade (yeah, spoiled) and we take those down. You can also bring them in the garage in a carrier through the worst of the wind.

 

[kelly]

If there is any chance of a tree branch falling down in on them you might want to keep them in away from a chance of being hit. We are getting pretty good winds here today and some storms are suppose to move in, I have tarps tied down around the pen too and it has a tin roof.

Kelly

 

[DrakeMaiden]

If you put out a tarp, just make sure your coop is well secured to the ground. A tarp can act like a sail, under the right circumstances. We had a temporary quarantine summer pen that we kept a tarp attached to. One night, when it was pouring and gusting like crazy, we got a really strong gust of wind that flipped the pen over. After hearing a loud crashing sound, I looked outside to find we had (what looked like) no pen and no ducks! It was only funny a week later. LOL.

 

[ozark hen]

these youngsters don't seem to be as smart as a full grown chicken. we live in the mid states and tornado warnings are out now through tomorrow night. I am planning on keeping all my poultry in "lock down". They have plenty of room to move around all day and plenty of feed and fresh water so they should be comfy. I prefer to be "safe than sorry." My duck pens are strapped down with tarps so hopefully high winds won't tear them off, they have been on the pens for a couple years now and haven't had a problem with them...yet. Young chicken seem confused as to what they should do..have you heard of the youngsters holding their beaks up and drowning in the rain? Don't know if that is a true fact or not but I would rather not test it out. my older hens/roos take off for the garage when it rains heavy but no need for them to be out if I know it will turn nasty out.

 

[Redfeathers]

Well I'll let them out in the morning and watch them. Hopefully they will go in when it gets bad. If not I'll put them in myself. Tonight is actually the first night they put themselves to bed. I went out expecting to herd them in and I was so pleasantly surprised to find them all in and huddled together on the roost. Very Cool!! Maybe they will figure out what to do tomorrow. Thank you everyone.

 

[silkiechicken]

I am planning on business as usual with the chickens. As for their coops flying away again... I might just cut the ropes to the tarps and let them go. Might be easier than reinforcement. The coops are sunk in to the ground better this time round so they probably wont fly away on me like when freshly moved.