How to Protect Your Birds From Hazardous Smoke Levels????

[ducksinvt]

prayers go out to all of you,your families, your flocks, pets and livestock, I cant begin to imagine what all of you must be going through, me being from the east coast, but my heart goes out to u all, stay strong and healthy and we will all hope and pray for you all, that this ends swiftly with minimal casualties!!! I dont know if there is a way to make donations to help, but if there is, please let me know or point me in the direction of a link!!

 

[Dancingwnature]

prayers go out to all of you,your families, your flocks, pets and livestock, I cant begin to imagine what all of you must be going through, me being from the east coast, but my heart goes out to u all, stay strong and healthy and we will all hope and pray for you all, that this ends swiftly with minimal casualties!!! I dont know if there is a way to make donations to help, but if there is, please let me know or point me in the direction of a link!!

Thank you for your kind thoughts! Please, everyone pray for rain!!!

 

[piminuse]

Hey y'all!

Gonna link ya to a thread I've got on evacuations since I just added a bunch of pics of people's indoor setups. Might give you some ideas to help with bringing the brood indoors.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/oregonians-under-evacuation.1414388/post-23230622

 

[Texas Transplant]

prayers go out to all of you,your families, your flocks, pets and livestock, I cant begin to imagine what all of you must be going through, me being from the east coast, but my heart goes out to u all, stay strong and healthy and we will all hope and pray for you all, that this ends swiftly with minimal casualties!!! I dont know if there is a way to make donations to help, but if there is, please let me know or point me in the direction of a link!!

Thank you Local authorities are discouraging material donations and are encouraging money donations to the Redcross.....I don't know of one for folks with livestock but, I'll post charities as I become aware of them.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Here's the less wordy version of the link I posted above:
FIVE STEPS TO KEEP CHICKENS HEALTHY DURING SMOKY CONDITIONS:

PROVIDE FRESH WATER OFTEN
One of the most important things you can do to ensure your chickens stay healthy during smoky conditions is to provide as much clean, fresh water as possible. Fresh water will help to moisten airways and wash particulate matter away from the chicken’s beak and nostrils. Change the water often, to ensure that it is clean and free of toxins. We have noticed a large accumulation of film building up on our chicken’s water due to the smoke.

KEEP FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT DUST-FREE
Try to reduce any unnecessary dust that may be lurking in your chicken’s food or environment. Dusty conditions will further decrease air quality. If your feed is grainy or dusty, it may be a good time to ferment it. Fermented feed offers additional moisture, and it increases the bioavailability of nutrients. Providing extra nutrients is very important to combat the stress and fatigue caused by smoky conditions. Try to avoid dusty bedding material. It is also best to avoid changing bedding (unless absolutely needed) due to the amount of dust that is created by raking, shoveling, and replacing the bedding.

LIMIT ACTIVITY, IF POSSIBLE
Your chickens will most likely limit their physical activity during smoky conditions, which is perfectly natural and actually beneficial. Allow your chickens to rest and conserve energy. You may need to consider providing free range chickens with extra feed. This will help reduce the amount of physical exertion that is needed when searching and hunting for food.

WATCH FOR SIGNS OF RESPIRATORY DISTRESS
Monitor your chickens closely for respiratory distress and other health problems when conditions are smoky. Signs of respiratory distress can include wheezing, difficulty breathing, pale comb, discharge from nose or eyes and lethargy or fatigue. If you see consistent signs of respiratory distress, it is advisable to separate the effected bird, as infection can spread quickly. If signs continue or worsen, contact your avian veterinarian to develop a treatment plan. It is also important to continue monitoring animals after smoky conditions have improved because it can take several weeks for animals to fully recover.

MONITOR CONDITIONS ON A DAILY BASIS AND MAKE CHANGES AS NEEDED
One of the best things you can do to protect your animals during wildfire season is to trust your intuition! If you feel that conditions are worsening, if ash begins to fall, or if your animals are showing symptoms of distress, move them into a covered or indoor area if possible. A barn, garage or shed could be good options to provide temporary relief from smoky conditions

Thank you for this...... here are also some ways for folks to help out:

https://vemanet.org/
They help folks with livestock and animals evacuating.

https://wffoundation.org/
This helps out the families of injured and fallen wildland firefighters

 

[Spikeandbean]

If anyone's looking for ways to help, here's another volunteer organization:
https://cowboy911.org/

 

[Texas Transplant]

Update.......While the double layer garden freeze cloth over ventilation was doing an OK job, I didn't feel it'd be good enough for 3 more days of dangerous air quality. So, 3 errands later....
$26 dollar pop up tent, pellet bedding, fresh herbs etc and the chickens seem content in my art studio. While scooping up the hens from the coop I was surprised to find our first egg ...courtesy of our Meyer Hatchery BCM Miss Leonora Carrington The egg was still warm! It's not as dark as I'd like but, I didn't expect much from a hatchery BCM.

 

[piminuse]

Update.......While the double layer garden freeze cloth over ventilation was doing an OK job, I didn't feel it'd be good enough for 3 more days of dangerous air quality. So, 3 errands later....
$26 dollar pop up tent, pellet bedding, fresh herbs etc and the chickens seem content in my art studio. While scooping up the hens from the coop I was surprised to find our first egg ...courtesy of our Meyer Hatchery BCM Miss Leonora Carrington The egg was still warm! It's not as dark as I'd like but, I didn't expect much from a hatchery BCM.

Chicken sleepover!

One thing I'm noticing is the STINK. Be prepared for it.

And congrats on the first egg--she's a trooper! I also have a hatchery BCM and her eggs started off on the lighter side, but have progressed to a nice medium brown (like dark store bought).

These are from her first week, lightest to darkest. They're darker now, so while you may not get chocolate brown there's still hope for darker shades!

 

[Texas Transplant]

Chicken sleepover!

One thing I'm noticing is the STINK. Be prepared for it.

And congrats on the first egg--she's a trooper! I also have a hatchery BCM and her eggs started off on the lighter side, but have progressed to a nice medium brown (like dark store bought).
View attachment 2330899
These are from her first week, lightest to darkest. They're darker now, so while you may not get chocolate brown there's still hope for darker shades!

Yes, I'm preparing for the smell.....we don't get much smell as it is SO dry here ALL THE TIME but, I've never used the pellet bedding either so, we'll see! I've got some PDZ but didn't want to put it in right away, I wanted to give them a break from dust. I'll certainly be missing my roost set up that gets cleaned everyday.

 

[Dancingwnature]

Here's the set-up I've come up with for my hen, Bandia Sicín (Irish, Chicken Goddess):

I've made a coop inside the garage, which is dry-walled & insulated, by enclosing a large shelving unit. I put a door from the garage coop to the outside coop. I've wrapped up the outside coop with a heavy-duty fabric and 3 layers of floating garden row covers. I've been spraying this all with water. Her space is 10 ft long x 3.5 ft tall x 3 ft deep, not including the outside coop.
The wild birds have needed their baths scrubbed and refilled several times a day. The smoke is really filthy and coating the bird baths and small creature (tiny Douglas squirrels not much larger than a chipmunk, chipmunks, lizards, butterflies) water containers with a dark soot: