Irene Issues

[france]

It looks like Irene will be a very strong tropical storm (if not still a hurricane) by the time it arrives here on Sunday morning. Sunday morning is also our date for
the processor to come and process all 42 cornishx. He called and said it looks like Sunday is out due to weather and his next free day is 9/13. Um they are 9 weeks already! I am waiting to hear back from him. I am frustrated because I called him 2 days ago and he only got back to me this morning saying he thought the storm would miss us. Um did you not watch the news?

Yes I know we could do it ourselves but not happening.

The birds are in a tractor now with all 4 sides mesh wire and half the top covered. My husband is thinking of ways to cover the tractor completely as well as all 4 sides for the duration of the storm.

 

[BarefootMom]

Can I ask why you won't do it yourselves? It is relatively easy and doesn't cost much.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Depending on how close to the coast you are, I would be more concerned with covering them up then the sizes. You're looking at 12 weeks old so you are going to get some big chickens but if you aren't willing to do them yourself, options are pretty slim. I would put them on a 16% chick grower and ease up the higher protein feed. Will be a little cheaper too.

For the storm I would put a huge layer of straw in the pen to keep a good barrier from the ground and them to avoid them getting wet and tarp the whole pen down. Be careful to not overheat the pen, might be wise to leave a side open facing away from where the storm is coming from.

Good luck.

 

[france]

Thanks for the straw idea. I had not thought of that and I know the ground will be very very wet. I am not sure which way the wind will be coming from but we can turn the open side toward the house. It is only 10 feet away and the house will block the wind.

Thank you also for the feed tips. I actually have a big bag of chick grower on hand. The processor has still not called me back. Hopefully tonight. He is trying to see if he could possibly come on Wed morning. Fingers and toes crossed.

 

[Tracydr]

Can you put a pallet in the tractor for them to get off the ground?
I'd seriously consider processing yourself, maybe get an experienced friend to help. If not, it'll be ok but you might lose some while waiting for the processor.

 

[itsy]

Jeff and Tracy....thank you for suggesting the straw and the pallets to the op. I've been thinking what to do for my broilers, other than tying them down, etc. I'll go pick up a pallet tomorrow morning. Our Agway sells them for $3.00 each (I think that's the price)

 

[4-H chicken mom]

How much do the weigh? If you think you are going to have to wait, I would not feed them chick starter anymore. The protein level is 20-24%. I would go with the 16% as stated before. Good luck, hope you stay dry.

 

[mcf3kids]

Good luck OP and good luck Itsy - we process tomorrow which was our planned day so I am counting my blessings tonight.

 

[Tracydr]

Good luck! Once it stops raining, I've found that rice hulls and diamectacous earth seem to help dry things up underfoot for the chickens.

 

[itsy]

I wanted to let you guys know that I measured everything and bought two pallets. One was certainly too big and because I'm thick headed, I bought it anyway. $5.00 for two isn't bad - although they're usually free on the side of the road!

Either way, I put one in on the covered side of the tractor and tucked a bunch of straw in as well. I thought the chickens were going to kill themselves while I did this. It was mayhem for them. I'm surprised I didn't get any heart attacks.

Now, they're sitting on the other side afraid to go in. They'll figure it out (hopefully) otherwise I'll have very wet chickens in a couple days.