High wind watch...

[Uzuri]

Everyone please send me good vibes for Wednesday; we're supposed to get 40 mph winds with gusts to 55. I'm not sure my chicken tractor will be able to handle that. I've tied it to a ground anchor and I'm going to brace it on the leeward side with metal fence posts tomorrow evening, but I just don't know...

My plan for high winds had been to move them tractor and all into my garage, but I can't risk that with the difficulty I've had with the wheels -- I know it wouldn't be able to handle the wind if the wheels feel off at some random point in the yard; it gets very tipsy when the wheels are off (as can be imagined). And we wouldn't be able to fix them in the dark (all daytime being taken up with being at work). So moving isn't going to happen.

So I'm resorting to asking for good vibes. It's all I've got left.

And this after I know I got a new layer today. Nice little pullet's egg -- and every last bit of bedding in the nest box pitched on the floor

 

[wildorchid053]

bring them in for the night .. if it is safe then they can go back out.. laundry room, basement? garage?

 

[michickenwrangler]

If the temps don't get too cold, try putting it on the lee side of the house/garage/barn

 

[feathersnuggles]

I agree with wildorchid, bring them inside and don't risk them getting injured or worse. If you're worried about them pooping all over your garage/basement/bathroom/laundry, they should stay where you want as long as it is dark where you put them. Or rig up a tent in your garage and put them inside.

 

[CMV]

Sending good vibes your way.

 

[patandchickens]

Totally agree -- move the chickens!! I seem to remember you were going to put them in the garage in dog crates while you were away, so it sounds like you have the facilities to put them in there even if the tractor has to stay out in the field. I'd really, seriously, for sure do it.

If you have some hay or strawbales around, you can also stack them on the upwind side of the tractor (tie them all together well so they don't blow over, and don't stack them *right* next to the tractor) -- the idea is to lift the wind currents upwards to go over the tractor. Cinderblocks on the top are also helpful... or ice frozen into buckets, if you are cold enough at the moment, I dunno.

I spent much of Saturday up on a ladder checking all the barn siding and roofing and re-screwing as needed, also on the chicken building. We are supposed to get the same winds here too. Hopefully everything will stay put! Or maybe the barn will blow down in an insurance-covered kind of way, that would be nice LOL

Best of luck, hope you can put the chickens in the garage during the storm,

Pat

 

[Uzuri]

Why didn't I think of the Christmas-time cages? That's my plan now. I've asked the boss if I can work through lunch and leave early so as to have half and hour extra light and I'll bring them into my garage for the night... well... for tonight and tomorrow and tomorrow night and probably even Thursday... working for a living makes chickening difficult I'm also adding those tube-sand things to the base of my run and possible draping two over the wind-ward wheels of the coop, if I can get them to bend -- they've been in my truck for winter ballast and they're kinda frozen into sand-cicles. I moved the cages out to the garage this morning, loaded my sandbags onto the lawn wagon, and prepped everything so I can move fast tonight. Though I'm starting to think the espresso this morning to get me moving might have been a mistake. XP They're saying a SW wind now instead of a S, and hopefully it stays that way since that'll help things too by not being broadside on.

Hopefully everything will turn out OK, but at least if it doesn't the chickens will be alive. Well, assuming the house doesn't blow down; but seriously, if that happens, the chickens are going to be the least of my worries.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I don't know where you are from, but 40mph winds are gusty here, but I don't get scared of them at all. I would agree with you about weighing them down, which you have. I would agree that light weight things might fly about, as well as possibly remove some sheets of tin that aren't secured very well or perhaps rusty. I did have a beehive that got knocked down once in a storm....I think it may have been Hurricane Ivan or Isadore, but I was lucky and just had to pick it back up. Still those winds were much stronger than 40mph. Now I won't say that the chickens won't be freaked out a bit by the wind, but other than having an overdose of fresh air and a bit of excessive adrenaline, I would think your tractor should be fine, esp seeings as you have taken extra precautions. I don't want to be misunderstood or anything, but if I had to bring my chickens in everytime I had a storm, my husband would put all my chickens up for sale. I think you have done everything you could and acted correctly.

 

[Uzuri]

So they're in the garage. Rooster is an idiot and has spilled all his water and then gone and sat in it, but I don't know what to do for him. At least he's in his own cage and gets to be an idiot alone.

I'm worried about Bossy, though. She lost her jacket somehow today (I've put it back on) and her back has been reddened. I was going to split the hens three and three, but seeing that, I split them four and two (I have one bigger cage) and put her in alone with one of the quieter hens in the hopes that she'd be able to hold her own.

Why's it always got to be the good layers?

 

[shelleyd2008]

You must be in my neck of the woods, we're due for high winds tomorrow as well (sort of). 2 of the surrounding counties have warnings, one to our north and the other to the east, so I expect we'll be getting it some too.

Good luck, I hope my free ranging bantams don't blow away!