Oregonians under evacuation

[piminuse]

Lots of folks are under evacuation notices right now and I've had multiple family and friends displaced down south. Here are a couple things I've seen people posting about as they get their chickens secure for travel:

1. If you are not being evacuated, but worried about the smoke/ash with outdoor chickens you can try turning on sprinklers to reduce ash drifting, or hang wet sheets around the perimeter of your coop/run. If you can bring them inside you can set up a tent with some litter and have a little sleepover, or lay a tarp in a bathroom and keep enclosed there.
2. If you are being evacuated and are unsure of how to transport your birds you can contain them in anything (laundry basket, record crate, big box) as long as it is well ventilated and has a secure top. They can be packed in there, like sardines, head to tail for maximum space saving. You can also wrap them individually in towels or newspapers for travel.
3. Hit up your local Facebook page, state page on BYC, state/city .gov page, Nextdoor or Craisglist. See if anyone is offering their homes/property to people in need as lots of folks have spare space to stash livestock until things are sorted.

Speaking of, I am in Beaverton and have a large yard that can accommodate more birds/cats/dogs and spare rooms. If you or someone you know is in need of a place to go for a few days I am happy to open my home during this troubling time. Feel free to DM me.

 

[RojoMarz]

Great suggestions and very generous to offer your home and yard space.

 

[black_cat]

Ditto! I wish I could offer help but I'm on the east coast so too far away to do much.

 

[Dancingwnature]

Lots of folks are under evacuation notices right now and I've had multiple family and friends displaced down south. Here are a couple things I've seen people posting about as they get their chickens secure for travel:

1. If you are not being evacuated, but worried about the smoke/ash with outdoor chickens you can try turning on sprinklers to reduce ash drifting, or hang wet sheets around the perimeter of your coop/run. If you can bring them inside you can set up a tent with some litter and have a little sleepover, or lay a tarp in a bathroom and keep enclosed there.
2. If you are being evacuated and are unsure of how to transport your birds you can contain them in anything (laundry basket, record crate, big box) as long as it is well ventilated and has a secure top. They can be packed in there, like sardines, head to tail for maximum space saving. You can also wrap them individually in towels or newspapers for travel.
3. Hit up your local Facebook page, state page on BYC, state/city .gov page, Nextdoor or Craisglist. See if anyone is offering their homes/property to people in need as lots of folks have spare space to stash livestock until things are sorted.

Speaking of, I am in Beaverton and have a large yard that can accommodate more birds/cats/dogs and spare rooms. If you or someone you know is in need of a place to go for a few days I am happy to open my home during this troubling time. Feel free to DM me.

Thank you for your post!! I wonder if you could please go into more detail about bringing them indoors. The ideas of a tent, tarp in the spare bathroom are possibilities. I want to do what's best for my hen friend and I am pretty new to having a chicken in my family. So, I would like ideas on how to keep her in the bathroom or homemade temp-tent safely and hygienically. This smoke may be around for a while.

 

[Floof]

I never thought I would need to plan a place to move them to in case of a fire. Pet sitters if I need to go out of town? Had that one down, but fire? Never occured to me. In the end, the fire was about 3 miles away and all I could do was chase the ducks out of their run, fill as many water buckets and totes, and say a prayer. From the fire maps online, it doesn't look like the fire has crossed the creek yet but I don't hold out hope. I am crushed. I feel terrible that I wasn't prepared to care for them properly.

 

[piminuse]

I never thought I would need to plan a place to move them to in case of a fire. Pet sitters if I need to go out of town? Had that one down, but fire? Never occured to me. In the end, the fire was about 3 miles away and all I could do was chase the ducks out of their run, fill as many water buckets and totes, and say a prayer. From the fire maps online, it doesn't look like the fire has crossed the creek yet but I don't hold out hope. I am crushed. I feel terrible that I wasn't prepared to care for them properly.

Oh wow that is absolutely awful...I have friends down south and the fire is skirting their property; they're in yellow phase and are unable to bring all livestock and are planning on what you did. All we can do is hope for the best and remember that these damn birds are a lot tougher than we give them credit for! And if it's the worst case...at least they had a wonderful owner who cared this deeply. Sending you good, good thoughts!

 

[Dancingwnature]

I never thought I would need to plan a place to move them to in case of a fire. Pet sitters if I need to go out of town? Had that one down, but fire? Never occured to me. In the end, the fire was about 3 miles away and all I could do was chase the ducks out of their run, fill as many water buckets and totes, and say a prayer. From the fire maps online, it doesn't look like the fire has crossed the creek yet but I don't hold out hope. I am crushed. I feel terrible that I wasn't prepared to care for them properly.

I never thought about a smoke plan either. There are so many things to think about with our beloved friends that you can't blame yourself for not thinking about every contingency. My heart and prayers go out to you and your feathered family. Please be safe and kind to yourself. How many birds do you have?

 

[piminuse]

Thank you for your post!! I wonder if you could please go into more detail about bringing them indoors. The ideas of a tent, tarp in the spare bathroom are possibilities. I want to do what's best for my hen friend and I am pretty new to having a chicken in my family. So, I would like ideas on how to keep her in the bathroom or homemade temp-tent safely and hygienically. This smoke may be around for a while.

My own garage setup is kind of silly: laid a tarp down, put a pet pen on top, then some litter (they don't need it, but it helps w the poo), brought on food+water and a little pan for dirt baths. Enclosed them with some tableclothes pinned to the top. I have 12 chickens in a 4'x4', so its not ideal but it's better than rotisserie chicken.

Here are some pics of similar setups from the Oregon Backyard and Chickens page:

 

[Dancingwnature]

My own garage setup is kind of silly: laid a tarp down, put a pet pen on top, then some litter (they don't need it, but it helps w the poo), brought on food+water and a little pan for dirt baths. Enclosed them with some tableclothes pinned to the top. I have 12 chickens in a 4'x4', so its not ideal but it's better than rotisserie chicken.

Here are some pics of similar setups from the Oregon Backyard and Chickens page:
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Wow! This is excellent! Thank you so much for your great reply!!

 

[Floof]

I never thought about a smoke plan either. There are so many things to think about with our beloved friends that you can't blame yourself for not thinking about every contingency. My heart and prayers go out to you and your feathered family. Please be safe and kind to yourself. How many birds do you have?

23 ducks. We had just added 5 new females in the last 2 weeks. The place we got them from is already in the middle of the fire (from what the map shows). I'm praying that our hill gets spared and they're all safe.