Nervous about this hurricane

[tiny529]

I'm thinking about bringing my girls in on Saturday, just in case Hurricane Irene decides to make a mess of things here in SE PA. My girls are 9 weeks old, so they are pretty big and I really don't know what to do with them. I guess I'll put them in the 1/2 bathroom overnight. I have have this vision of my coop blowing away or a tree falling on the run and I'll be chasing 5 terrified pullets around my yard in 85 mph winds and a torrential downpour. I just hate to thinks of what my 1/2 bath will look like if they are stuck in there for a day (or more!)

 

[dwegg]

When we had a huge storm coming through after the tornado in the south I put my girls in the basement for the night.

 

[cat1994]

Yeah I wouldn’t want to chance it either, do you not have a small pen you could keep them in while in your house or maybe an enclosed garage?

 

[GA_in_GA]

Do you have room for a large dog crate? You can always stack the crates in your bathroom, put plastic sheeting (or shower curtain liners) up to protect your walls and cabinets.

Hopefully, you'll only have rain and some wind. Cat 1 predicted by the time Irene hits the NYC area. As long as you are west of the storm, you'll have less wind, than those in the NE quadrant of the storm will have.

 

[andrealeec]

I'm thinking the same thing. We live in the woods in south central CT and I'm afriad that something will happen to my babies. Only problem is, there are 11 of them and now they are 18 weeks old. If I had to, I could put them in the downstairs bathroom, but that would be one heck of a mess to clean up afterwards!!

 

[Alethea]

Do whatever you need to to keep the chicks safe. I'd rather clean a bathroom than lose my pullets. May the flock be with you.

 

[tiny529]

I could bring the dog cage back in. I took it out of the dining room a few weeks back so the chicks could hang outside. I don't have a garage and the basement will likely flood. I'm in an old farmhouse and the basement is swampy even during a drought. We are near Philadelphia (Quakertown, to be exact), so I'm expecting it to be bad here, especially with the high winds. We are in a bad area for downed trees.

Anyway, it'll be a tight fit in the dog cage but I'd rather have them cramped for a day or two than blown away.

And the dog cage will be slightly cleaner than the 1/2 bath. At least the poop will be contained to a fairly 2 dimensional area. I envision poop smeared on the walls, the back of the toilet, the sink, etc if they are in the 1/2 bath.

 

[LisaAnnW]

Thankfully we were bypassed (this time), but in addition to the emergency cages we keep on hand for severe weather, I'd bought a few cardboard boxes. Anything like that will work in a pinch. One time we had a torrential rain in the middle of the night - the girls and I waded through the floodwater and put our flock in plastic tubs and garbage cans, then kept them in the garage until morning. It's better to avoid having too many together if they're in close quarters, otherwise they may start to peck each other, but they don't really need room to run around for the duration of a storm. Good luck everyone.

 

[nuttyredhead]

It will be downgraded but the tiime it gets to us, but still expecting some flooding and severe winds. Hoping no trees fall on the coop! The girls will need to spend a few days inside, their run is in prime flooding area for our yard!

Good Luck! Hope all are safe!

 

[tiny529]

Fortunately we only have 5 chickens and our cage was bought for a Newfoundland. It'll be tight but not to the point where no one can move. I do get concerned about them though. They are definitely getting more peckish. My BO has gotten a few beak and head boo-boos recently and the tip of my Dom's beak is missing. Looks like she's been clipped!