Hurricane Irene!

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Quote:
Where are you located? I didn't see anywhere that your location is posted. I am in Midlands SC, so will prob not see anhy of Irene.

 

[LittleRooster]

*sigh* I am a bit (okay more than a bit) worried about what will happen if Irene hits like they are projecting. She will hit over me Sunday morning it looks like. I am praying otherwise!

I have 8 half grown and 2 full grown turkeys, a dozen free range hens, a dozen fancy chickens - some half grown, a mamma and baby in a brooder and a dozen meat chickens....plus 8 geese and 6 ducks and 4 meat rabbits. I can't get all that into crates and in my house (no garage... certainly no basement - I live on a sandbar *Delaware*). This is rented property so I have done as many improvements as I can but I basically have a shed with attached pen (which may not hold up to 100 mile an hour winds) where the meaties are. And a 3 sided barn divided with 2 coops and 2 pens...but am afraid of flooding and what wind will do to pens.

Am going to get my fancy chickens into couple dog crates I think and into the house. Not sure what to do with the turkeys except lock them in the coop and hope it stays structurally sound. The ducks/geese I might lock up in the other coop. And pray.

- Kitty
Little Rooster Croft
World Tree Rabbitry

 

[stoopid]

put them in the bathtub, at least it's easy to clean out when you're done. I'll be doing the same. If you pull the shower curtain, they should calm down a bit. And good luck to all....

 

[brahmakid11]

the hurricane is coming right through my house!!!!

 

[jennifersouza]

Quote:
Best of luck and here's to the hurricane going out into the Atlantic! I feel for you and your situation.

 

[Rachy]

Good luck!!!!!

 

[Hopefulloflove]

We are right in the projected path too! I would keep all of my chickens indoors if any of mine were outside yet...Those winds will be too strong for chickens....Good luck to everyone!! Let's check in after its gone through! God Bless!

 

[Noymira]

I'll be sending good thoughts towards anyone in the storm's way! I hope you all make it through with minimal damage and no loss of life.

We will be getting some of the remnants of the storm up here it looks like, and I'm already preparing for heavy wind and rain. Picking up anything likely to go flying and adding some tarps around my quarantine coop to keep the chooks in there dry. If it looks real bad I'll move them into the big coop in a dog crate with the others.

 

[wood&feathers]

Hmmm...My inlaws have a trailer on the Eastern Shore of Virginia that has weathered dozens of hurricanes since they bought it used in 1961. There is also a shed that has been there as long as I have known them, since 1987 at least. The secret to keeping any lightweight structure like a shed or trailer from blowing over is the tie down anchors.

If you have a coop that resembles a tool shed and just sits on it's foundation you need to secure it. I would use steel cable with turnbuckles, or Simpson Strong tie galvanized strapping. You will need to secure the straps over the shed in an X, so it is protected from multiple directions.

The hard part is anchoring to the ground. There is something called a sand auger, a spiral of steel with a welded eye. You run a stout rod through the eye and screw the thing WAY down into the sand. If you used cable to go up and over the shed, you can use the turnbuckles to take up the slack. On my house I have the Simpson hurricane banding bolted to the foundation, so I am uncertain how to attach it to an auger eye.

 

[chicktwins]

Little Rooster we are right there with you on the location, We r MD Eastern Shore and right on the Nanticoke and Wicomico Rivers (down the road about 1/2 mile). I only have 21 chickens but my neighbors have tons of chickens, turkeys, goats, sheep, guineas and peacocks. Mine are in a very solid barn we converted to a coop so I am hoping for the best!! Good luck to you and everyone else including myself. All we can do is make sure we have plenty of food and water. The coop has a double window and I am thinking of maybe putting a piece of plywood over it but it is already covered with hardware cloth and screen so dont know if it is really that necessary?? We are installing the roosts tomorrow so they can get off of the ground if necessary. I told my husband we definitely needed to get that done before the storm if nothing else. They are gonna be 10 weeks on Fri. Poor little things, first an earthquake now a darned hurricane!!