Hurricane Preparedness!

[mirandaleecon]

Well we have a new storm developing, Danny, and it got me thinking, I live in the Florida panhandle and I don't have a plan if a hurricane comes our way. Just curious, what measures some of you may have taken to protect your flock in the event of a hurricane?

One of my major concerns is that I have three peacocks who sleep on my chimney every night, if need be, I can corral them into a pen but I don't have an open spot for them right now and I certainly don't have cages that could fit them. How would they fare up on the chimney?? They sleep in the rain now, even though there are areas that provide much better cover, they are just stubborn that way.

At the moment, the best plan I have is to pack everyone (3 peacocks, 6 ducks, 26 chickens, 2 goats with kids on the way) into my garage but it's a standalone structure and probably wouldn't hold up if the storm hit us straight on. Also, I think everyone would get a bit cranky being cooped up together when they are used to going wherever they please. Have to figure something else out...

 

[dawg53]

Some folks leave their birds behind and evacuate. It's up to you to decide what you want to do. I've built my coops to withstand cat one hurricanes. We will evacuate for a strong cat two or greater hurricane. I've been through several and it's not fun, the worst was Hugo. If you decide to evacuate with your birds; stock up on cages and crates now. Feeders and waterers can made from empty plastic one gallon water containers. They fit perfectly tied off in the corners of cages. You'll need to bring feed and water with you. How much to bring depends how far you evacuate, dont forget that power will be out for a long time along the path of the storm, surrounding areas also.
The most important thing is caging birds that get along with each other. If you dont, there will be picking and pecking, fighting and injuries. You'll need to do this prior to evacuating. I suggest that you cage your birds soon (for practice) and figure out who gets along with who to save yourself headaches later in case a hurricane heads your way. I have my cages etc... ready to go.
Here's a pic with the cages/feeders/waterers I was describing;

 

[mirandaleecon]

Some folks leave their birds behind and evacuate. It's up to you to decide what you want to do. I've built my coops to withstand cat one hurricanes. We will evacuate for a strong cat two or greater hurricane. I've been through several and it's not fun, the worst was Hugo. If you decide to evacuate with your birds; stock up on cages and crates now. Feeders and waterers can made from empty plastic one gallon water containers. They fit perfectly tied off in the corners of cages. You'll need to bring feed and water with you. How much to bring depends how far you evacuate, dont forget that power will be out for a long time along the path of the storm, surrounding areas also.
The most important thing is caging birds that get along with each other. If you dont, there will be picking and pecking, fighting and injuries. You'll need to do this prior to evacuating. I suggest that you cage your birds soon (for practice) and figure out who gets along with who to save yourself headaches later in case a hurricane heads your way. I have my cages etc... ready to go.
Here's a pic with the cages/feeders/waterers I was describing;

Thank you for the info! If you evacuate with your birds, where would you take them?? Do you stay with someone or stay in some kind of lodging? I have family in GA (assuming the storm wasn't heading towards them) but if I couldn't get to them, I think I would try to find a campground somewhere. I need to look into that...
Would you leave them in their cages the whole time? I know mine would be miserable stuck in their cages that long but I feel like if I tried to let them out, they would take off and have no idea where they were or how to get back.

Sorry for all the questions, I am an Emergency Manager and so it is in my nature to look at every possible detail. I'm hoping some more people will chime in with their plans/ideas as well so we can all brainstorm together!

 

[Peeps61]

Hi - I live in the NW Florida panhandle and I was also looking at TS Danny. It's on a similar track as Ivan, and I hope we don't get it. However, we have a fairly new barn and it is built to the wind codes, so if necessary, my chicken tractor and mobile coop can be pulled into the barn and also our horses placed in temporary stalls until the worst of it blows over. Your stand alone garage may very well be built to withstand the wind, if it's a newer structure. You may want to check on that. I definitely would NOT leave the peacocks out in the weather. If we evacuate, we'll make sure everyone is safely stabled with plenty of food and water and we'll be back as soon as the storm has blown through. There is no place we can practically take 3 horses, 35 chickens, two dogs, two rabbits and four girls

.

 

[theuglyduckling]

to be honest i dont think you have that much to worry about. the hurricane isnt a hurricane anymore its more of a tropical storm, not that, that isnt strong but by the time it hits me which is tomorrow and tuesday they say our mountains and dryness should pretty much slow the storm and weaken it. by the time it hits you i would guess itll just be a strong thunder and rain storm, but i honestly just in my opinion wouldn't worry very much. i would prepare for just a big rain storm and a little bit of wind but nothing huge.

but this is just my opinion.

 

[mirandaleecon]

to be honest i dont think you have that much to worry about. the hurricane isnt a hurricane anymore its more of a tropical storm, not that, that isnt strong but by the time it hits me which is tomorrow and tuesday they say our mountains and dryness should pretty much slow the storm and weaken it. by the time it hits you i would guess itll just be a strong thunder and rain storm, but i honestly just in my opinion wouldn't worry very much. i would prepare for just a big rain storm and a little bit of wind but nothing huge.

but this is just my opinion.

I wasn't actually worried about Danny, just got me thinking that I don't have a solid plan if there was a hurricane that decided to come our way. I just like to be prepared

 

[Peeps61]

to be honest i dont think you have that much to worry about. the hurricane isnt a hurricane anymore its more of a tropical storm, not that, that isnt strong but by the time it hits me which is tomorrow and tuesday they say our mountains and dryness should pretty much slow the storm and weaken it. by the time it hits you i would guess itll just be a strong thunder and rain storm, but i honestly just in my opinion wouldn't worry very much. i would prepare for just a big rain storm and a little bit of wind but nothing huge.

but this is just my opinion.

Hi! Where do you live? One thing we have in the Gulf of Mexico is the "Loop Current" which is very hot. When tropical storms pass over it, they tend to reintensify into hurricanes. Having survived Hurricane Ivan and Dennis back in 2004 and 2005, I don't trust them until they are gone - even if they aren't headed my way. It's always good to have a plan in place, just in case

.

 

[mixedUPturk]

Hello all! Im in South LA SO i am where u hope to send your storms jk!

I thank you for raising this point and i appreciate the brainstorming!

My coops are being upgraded to probly handle a cat 2 storm, maybe a 3 at landfall IMO. I am about 100 miles from the gulf coast, where its closest. We Intend to cement posts, and bury wire for long term predator protection, and we use tin roofing on our coops but this has me wondering if i should think harder about shingled roofs...

And then... Its so wet! Im in between two higher properties and so a shelf off of the ground, inside my cement floored coop, could be a neccesity in the event of flooding...

At least i wont have to worry about the ducks drowning

But chicks in a brooder? Hummm another problem, Lighting for the babes...

Your plan neccessities have to fit your lifestyle obviously. I KNOW that i cant stay in this rickety old trailer, but i could go close by, to a close family friends with our four dogs and two cats. I couldnt leave my poultry behind, nope. Id rather swim, i know Lots of people who swam in Katrina, and i would chance my own starvation.

 

[mirandaleecon]

Hello all! Im in South LA SO i am where u hope to send your storms

jk!

I thank you for raising this point and i appreciate the brainstorming!

My coops are being upgraded to probly handle a cat 2 storm, maybe a 3 at landfall IMO. I am about 100 miles from the gulf coast, where its closest. We Intend to cement posts, and bury wire for long term predator protection, and we use tin roofing on our coops but this has me wondering if i should think harder about shingled roofs...

And then... Its so wet! Im in between two higher properties and so a shelf off of the ground, inside my cement floored coop, could be a neccesity in the event of flooding...

At least i wont have to worry about the ducks drowning

But chicks in a brooder? Hummm another problem, Lighting for the babes...

Your plan neccessities have to fit your lifestyle obviously. I KNOW that i cant stay in this rickety old trailer, but i could go close by, to a close family friends with our four dogs and two cats. I couldnt leave my poultry behind, nope. Id rather swim, i know Lots of people who swam in Katrina, and i would chance my own starvation.

From my understanding, metal roofs will withstand hurricane winds better than other roofs, as long as the structure is sound. There are a lot of people in my area that are actually switching over to metal. Although, I don't know what kind of metal and if tin would hold up as well as what they are using for houses.

I think my ducks would be ecstatic in a hurricane! They don't care if it's thundering and lightening, they are always out playing in the worst storms...

You could probably come up with a battery backup for the brooder. And if you have to take them with you, as long as there's several of them, they should be able to keep each other warm for a little while...

Well hopefully we won't have any storms that would force us to swim, anytime soon! And hopefully we can come up with a plan that will protect us and the poultry...

 

[theuglyduckling]

Hi! Where do you live? One thing we have in the Gulf of Mexico is the "Loop Current" which is very hot. When tropical storms pass over it, they tend to reintensify into hurricanes. Having survived Hurricane Ivan and Dennis back in 2004 and 2005, I don't trust them until they are gone - even if they aren't headed my way. It's always good to have a plan in place, just in case

.

yes i know it is good to have a plan but i was only trying to let her know that this storm isnt much to worry about. right now this storm is here in PR. it isnt much of anything only some scattered rain here and there. and not exactly rain just more drizzling on and off. the storms right now if they stay on the path danny went through i honestly dont think they will make it through PR and the other islands and stay anything big. the El Nino is pretty much weakening everything once they come in contact with it and then on top of that the mountains on the islands around here also break it up. i do wish that the storm was a little stronger than it is now because the rain that they tried to say we would get they made it seem like it would be heavy, but it isnt much of anything. now i am awaiting erika and hoping this one brings more rain than danny is.

and yes i know they can reform as they pass on and become stronger, but this storm looks promising that it will be nothing really. and i am not trying to say that you shouldnt keep an eye on it im only just trying to say that this particular storm is little right now.

I wasn't actually worried about Danny, just got me thinking that I don't have a solid plan if there was a hurricane that decided to come our way. I just like to be prepared

i dont know if i came across to strong but if it did it wasnt meant to. just wanted you to not worry. i am getting the storm right now as we speak and its really not much of anything. it appeared at 5 in the morning with thunder and now its sort of just scattered rain here and there. tropical storm Erika should be something more to worry about it seems that this one is faster.