Hurricane Irma Aftermath Help

[Kittyomine]

Hi all, I need some advice or ideas..the eye of Irma passed within 20 miles of my home, we had no power for 6 days. My chickens & ducks all survived but I have a messy pen and I am worried about them. I still have standing water and it stinks, it's still muddy and almost all the grass is gone. I can't even move the houses back around bc of the mud. My ducks are loving the water but I know my chicks are not really happy. I've attached before pics is the day after the storm and after pics are as of today.....Thank You

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

I'm supposing the bottom pictures were day after storm, and top ones are today. It doesn't look too bad, so I think your chickens will be fine until it dries up. Jut make sure that it is nice and dry in their coops.

 

[Kiki]

Yikes! thank gosh you finally got power back!

There isn't much you can do if you can't move the coops to higher ground.
Just going to have to wait it out.

Keep an out for signs of Coccidiosis and know that mosquitos can bring in fowl pox.
Got a pump? to pump the water out?

 

[Kittyomine]

I'm supposing the bottom pictures were day after storm, and top ones are today. It doesn't look too bad, so I think your chickens will be fine until it dries up. Jut make sure that it is nice and dry in their coops.

Yes the pics got put in order wrong- lol.

 

[Kiki]

Yes the pics got put in order wrong- lol.

LOL..I thought the top ones were the before!

 

[Lazy Farmer]

we lost pw for 6.5 days.. we are near Dunellon fl. Water has gone down but DH has been working hard to remove down trees, replace fences, hutch roofs.. what a mess.

 

[coach723]

I'm sorry for all your troubles. We lost power for 5 days, not fun at all.
Being in Florida, and the risk is always going to be with us for hurricanes and tropical storms, and lots of rain, I would look long term at trying to move them to higher ground. I built a new coop after tropical storm Debbie which caused a LOT of flooding in my area, and I choose the highest ground I had where no standing water accumulated. Also consider, looking long term again, at raising your housing up off the ground a little more. My coop floor is about 2 feet above ground. Choose a height that is adequate based on your water level at it's worst. If you absolutely cannot move them, then I might consider building some raised walkways and platforms for them. I just think it's easier to prevent as much as you can rather than dealing with clean up and repair after, knowing that in a case like this there is likely to be some clean up/repair, no matter what. Another option, I don't know what your local codes allow, would be to put some drainage pipes in to drain that area faster. I know that those are not quick easy fixes, but would help in the long term. Other than those, and waiting for the ground to dry, I don't know what else to suggest. Putting something down like hay or shavings would probably grow mold and cause more problems since it is so wet.
As KikisGirls said watch for coccidiosis signs which can show up when the ground stays wet, and fowl pox, our mosquito population here exploded as of yesterday. Best of luck, and glad you did not lose any birds. Not a fun time for Floridians.

 

[Kiki]

I'm sorry for all your troubles. We lost power for 5 days, not fun at all.
Being in Florida, and the risk is always going to be with us for hurricanes and tropical storms, and lots of rain, I would look long term at trying to move them to higher ground. I built a new coop after tropical storm Debbie which caused a LOT of flooding in my area, and I choose the highest ground I had where no standing water accumulated. Also consider, looking long term again, at raising your housing up off the ground a little more. My coop floor is about 2 feet above ground. Choose a height that is adequate based on your water level at it's worst. If you absolutely cannot move them, then I might consider building some raised walkways and platforms for them. I just think it's easier to prevent as much as you can rather than dealing with clean up and repair after, knowing that in a case like this there is likely to be some clean up/repair, no matter what. Another option, I don't know what your local codes allow, would be to put some drainage pipes in to drain that area faster. I know that those are not quick easy fixes, but would help in the long term. Other than those, and waiting for the ground to dry, I don't know what else to suggest. Putting something down like hay or shavings would probably grow mold and cause more problems since it is so wet.
As KikisGirls said watch for coccidiosis signs which can show up when the ground stays wet, and fowl pox, our mosquito population here exploded as of yesterday. Best of luck, and glad you did not lose any birds. Not a fun time for Floridians.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Not a fun time for Floridians.

 

[Kittyomine]

Thank you all- my issue I found out is that about 4 acres back is a swamp and our property drains into it so doing any kind of drainage is out of the question unless I flood more of my property. I think I may move everyone to a better/lil bit higher location this winter when there is no rain, no flooding and no mosquitoes!!!