Hurricane and Natural Disasters Questions

[Ladysonja]

For those of you who live on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, what has everyone done to protect your flocks from events such as Hurricanes and Tropical Storms? I know from time to time, folks in California in the lower part of the state manage with Pacific hurricanes and Tropical storms.

I can only imagine the grief everyone went through with all the hurricane poundings everyone took in Florida some years ago and of course the devistating affect of Katrina (Mississippi, Alabama and Lousiana) and Rita that hit Texas only weeks after Katrina.

Maybe I am being overly worried, but I am a first time Chicken owner and Hurricanes in the Gulf do not end until November. I would like to hear everyone's tips of how to best protet the coop/run in a serious weather conditions.

My house is ready, but I want my coop ready too.

Thanks

 

[dixygirl]

Put them in the coop, close the door and pray. My coop is cemented to the ground and has cement on the floor inside. If you have a garage you can always herd them in with you until the danger passes.

 

[BeckyLa]

:| I think everyone has forgotten that the year before Katrina Pensacola, Fl, was devastated by Hurricane Ivan. The truth of that devastation was never released to the public, it would hurt tourism. Anyway, I lived there at that time, but only had a small flock, about half a dozen. I brought them in, put them in a large dog crate in a bedroom, and chained their little coop to a tree. What a wild night that was. In the morning, it looked as though a bomb had gone off. All the trees had no leaves, they were plastered to houses, the fence was down, a pine tree had gone through a spare bedroom ceiling (not the one with the chickens) and there was a good bit of flooding. What a mess. The little coop was unhurt but the tree was now leaning. Now I am in northern Louisiana. However, if I still lived along the coast I would not have more birds than I could bring in in cages or take with me if I had to evacuate. Some people leave the birds out and hope for the best. I couldn't do that anymore than I could with my dog. There is no way to prepare with any guarantees especially considering hurricanes bring tornadoes with them.

 

[purplebaby]

aaaaaaaaaaa

< me at the ideas of hurricanes it is an awesome blend of prepared ahead of time, last minute running around finished up with nap time. then the show begins...


un storms make me feel free. we have crazy things to eat and do. we like the big hurricane parties of the south, so we made our own... when we lived in a new suburban house with no land or TREES

so this yr at the new house could get interesting cause we have TREES decks sheds chicken housing rabbit cage, fencing furniture and a big ole pool. i guess i need a new plan...... project for a weekend

 

[Ladysonja]

Quote:
Thanks BeckyLA -

That is an excellent idea using dog creates either in the garage or in the spare bedroom. I have several dog creates that I was thinking of giving to the local shelter, but now with your advice, I'll hang on to them.

Glad to hear that you made it through Ivan... I've lived in South/East Texas all my life and next to Katrina and Rita... Alicia (80's) was the big one I remember as a kid and that was one scary night/morning.

Thanks again...

 

[krackerhill]

We went through Frances and Jean in 2004 and it was a mess. Lot's of work needed on coops but worse was the lack of water(no electric for pump for 2weeks). We set up a bunch of crates for all our animals. A friend of mine works at a thrift store and hooks me up when the bigger all metal ones come in. They work great. We call it the greatroundup if a big storm comes. Make sure to stock up on feed that is another big issue.

 

[NoelTate]

I have always allowed my birds to remain in the coop and have not lost any yet. I worry a bit more now because my old pens were in the edge of the woods, and the birds roosted in trees and bushes and took care of themselves when storms hit. Now that the are in a smaller pen and more enclosed, I worry more. We have had one storm since I built this coop, and the chickens did fine. The only problem was the fiberglass blew off the top, so they got rained on, poor girls. If a very, very serious storm were to come, I would probably put them in cardboard boxes in a cinder block storage building we have, but I am not sure they would not be better off left to their instincts. They are smarter than we give them credit for.

 

[k0xxx]

RANT ALERT! RANT ALERT! RANT ALERT!


Purplebaby - "aaaaaaaaaaa wee < me at the ideas of hurricanes "

You are right, there is something electric in the air when a storm is coming. Yeah, hurricanes are fun. That is until they seriously affect you or your loved ones. When I was younger and more foolish, I enjoyed the preparations and watching the storm.

I was born and raised in the area southeast of New Orleans. When I was 10 years old, I went through Betsy. I loved the excitement of everyone running around and getting ready. I watched things being blown around by the wind and was amazed. Even though some of my family had water up to their ceilings, it didn't affect me directly and I actually looked forward to the next hurricane.

In 1969, Camille struck my area with a glancing blow. It wasn't until I saw the home of a friend that had been swept 2 miles from it's foundation, and the devastation that it caused on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, that I started to become aware of a storms potential.

I had moved away from the area long before Katrina visited SELA, MS and AL. However, ALL of my extended family and that of my wife, lost their homes, all possessions, their businesses in that one. 1800 people lost their life. When that happens, it really starts to sink in.

Still, I admit, it is hard not to feel excitement when one is on the way. Just don't forget and get complacent of what a big one can do. In 1938 (if memory serves me), Long Island took a hit from a Category 3 hurricane (on landfall). Over 600 people died, and over 50,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. The damage ran into the billions of dollars. I'd hate to think what that would mean in today's dollars.

Please don't think that I am attacking you. I am not. I know all to well the feeling that you describe and my only reason for posting this is to remind those that find themselves in the path of a hurricane, not to get complacent. Trust me, I've been there.

Blessing,
Mark

 

[orchidchick]

I also went thru Frances and (they were within a month of each other)Jeanne in 2004 and was personally responsible for over 60 horses at the ranch that I work at. 18 of which were ours, the rest belonged to clients, as well as the assorted cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, (no, no chickens!) that some of us owned. We were fortunate to be housed in a concrete block barn that was built after Andrew and up to code, but still went without electricity for up to two weeks after each and were on generator, you can't put the horses out after due to flooding and paddock destruction, never mind where the heck to put the manure. The store are all closed, there's no gas....it goes on and on.

That is the ONLY reason I keep myself to three hens (God is that HARD!!!!!) . Then I can load my small coop in the back of my pickup and take them to the ranch with me if a hurricane threatens. I always stay with the horses, so the house gets boarded up, but the animals and I are bunkered down at the Ranch which is probably the safest building in the county anyway that close to the Ocean.

That is also why I designed my coop and run the way I did.....disposable. The girls are not.

 

[DTchickens]

Meridian mississippi here (well.. about 30 minutes away). when katrina came through, all we did was lock our chickens in pens (which most are anyway), and stack them down so they couldn't get turned over, stock up on water, viennas and other things of the sort. and sit through the long nights of nothing to do but listen to it rain, and roar.. we went 5 days without power, and water pretty much because we were under a boil water notice and we have a electric stove!. , but yeah, just lock them in the coop, if you use pens, stake them down. should be fine

EDIT, Also if you have a house you could put them in a garage.. and if i sound mean or animal cruelty for leaving my chickens out in the winds, i just want to put in.. I live in a trailer. so no shelter really, and had around 200 chickens then

-Daniel