Here in southern CT, it looks like the official word is that it'll be a cat 1 hurricane heading through my town late tonight/early tomorrow morning. I live at the top of a hill (no worries about flooding!), but under several massive trees. Given that my coop is only a month old, un-weather tested and not "winterized," my little flock is riding out the storm in my basement. I figure 24 hours in a damp, dark basement is better than potentially getting squashed by a tree in their coop overnight.
I've got a thick layer of shavings over a tarp and I made a makeshift roost out of a pair of sawhorses and a landscape timber so if the basement DOES get wet, at least they'll be able to get off the floor.
While we're on the subject of helping our flocks through the storm: My chickens were FREAKED out when we took them out of their coop and deposited them into the basement. My basement doesnt have windows and is pitch black when the lights are off. To help them calm dawn (and discourage jumping out of their pen!) I removed all but one bulb after I put them in the temporary pen so they could find each other, get a nibble and a drink, and settle into bed and then turned it off again for the night. Chances are good, we're gonna lose power. Are they going to be okay in the dark all day tomorrow? Or should I go out there with a flashlight and hope that its enough for them to find the food and water?
