So Cal Fire evacuation… how to evacuate with chickens?

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

I’m not certain if my family and I will have to evacuate our home… at least this time. A fire started in a city below the mountains and is very quickly moving through the canyons towards us and the town a bit lower than us. Evacuation zones are being set and getting closer and closer to us. The fire went from being 500 acres late on Sunday to over 4,500 acres and counting. We have never been in this situation before, especially not with chickens whom we will absolutely not leave behind. I would like to know if any of you have had to evacuate with chickens and how you did it. Also, where did you bring them and how did you house them until you could return home? I have 13 chickens and they are all beloved pets who I do not want to leave if the fire ends up coming here. I may not have to evacuate with this specific fire but the new reality of living in a rural area in of one of the hottest and driest states in the U.S. is the great risk of wildfires and evacuation. If it’s not this fire it could very well be another one in the future and I would really like to be prepared for when that time may come. Thank you!

An update that the fire is now at 20,000 acres…

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm hoping someone who has actually done this will chime in. I live in Oregon, and we have some pretty major fires around us...fortunately we've never had to evacuate.

Chickens are easy to move in general. You can cage or crate them in small bunches or trailer them in larger batches (being sure they cannot fly out).

As to where to go...your local agencies will have shelters set up for animals. Often people from outlying areas will offer temporary shelter. Check with your local poultry forum to see if there are people willing to take in birds.

Chickens are very transportable. Back in the depression era (1933 to be exact), my dad and grandparents travelled from South Dakota to Oklahoma using wagons. They put the chickens in the tail gates of the wagons and let them out to free range in the afternoon as they set up camp....also offering some tidbits too. The hens even laid an egg or two on the way. They'd roost on the axles of the wagons.

So they'll transport just fine. I've done a number of sales with transporting in boxes and crates. My daughter transported 6 in the back of a trailer set up for hauling chickens.

Finding location to shelter them will be harder....if you have a portable chicken tractor, you might set that up on someone's yard.

Ideas. Hopefully someone who has actually had to shelter for fire will pipe in.

LofMc

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Ask @Butterscotchbitesfinger I think she may have some experience with this, if I remember correctly, from a year or so ago when there were fires in Australia.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have evacuated with chickens.

First, as soon as you know there's a fire anywhere near, shut them in the pen/coop. That way if you get orders, you don't have to chase them.

I ordered those cardboard animal carriers and wrote my name and phone on them. They sit next to my coop during fire season. When we got the evac order last year, I folded them and taped the bottoms and threw in pine shavings when we first got the warning. I'd already decided who would go together in the carriers. It was pretty easy to snatch them up and put them in the carriers. But I want to get a fishing net or rooster hook.

Now, here there is a volunteer organization that you can call to come get your animals. We had to do that for the goats, but the chickens all fit in the SUV with the dogs and cats.

I also grabbed a bucket of feed and a big container of water. I also have a tent that I can put them in if we end up staying in a parking lot or a friend's place. All the flaps of the tent open to let in air.

As it was, we took them to the fairgrounds, which is where our goats went. They had them in horse stalls there with hay, food, and water. It was pretty amazing. They even had buckets and pools for the ducks. Each stall had a clipboard with owner info. There were volunteers who would feed/water them when they were able, but we were expected to come back to take care of them daily.

As it turned out, we weren't there long as the evac order for our neighborhood was lifted before we even unloaded the birds.

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

I’m not certain if my family and I will have to evacuate our home… at least this time. A fire started in a city below the mountains and is very quickly moving through the canyons towards us and the town a bit lower than us. Evacuation zones are being set and getting closer and closer to us. The fire went from being 500 acres late on Sunday to over 4,500 acres and counting. We have never been in this situation before, especially not with chickens whom we will absolutely not leave behind. I would like to know if any of you have had to evacuate with chickens and how you did it. Also, where did you bring them and how did you house them until you could return home? I have 13 chickens and they are all beloved pets who I do not want to leave if the fire ends up coming here. I may not have to evacuate with this specific fire but the new reality of living in a rural area in of one of the hottest and driest states in the U.S. is the great risk of wildfires and evacuation. If it’s not this fire it could very well be another one in the future and I would really like to be prepared for when that time may come. Thank you!

When we had the bad bushfires here in NSW Australia a few years ago we evacuated our chickens quickly. It wasn’t so much that we’d been told to it was more as a cautionary thing because this fire was moving fast and unpredictability. We moved our chickens to somewhere safer (e.g. my great grandfather’s property in the lowlands where there’s less bush land).
The best advice I can give is get a dog crate or something you can transport your chickens in because if that fire comes quick then you have to be prepared to move. Also make sure they are easy to handle and if they aren’t then have something you can catch them with like a net or something.
If you have to leave and you don’t have time to get them out just open the coop door, we had some friends have to do that a few years ago and their chickens survived it. The only catch is that the predators that survived came after the chickens.
So if you can get them out that is my main suggestion.
Good luck and stay safe

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

I have evacuated with chickens.

First, as soon as you know there's a fire anywhere near, shut them in the pen/coop. That way if you get orders, you don't have to chase them.

I ordered those cardboard animal carriers and wrote my name and phone on them. They sit next to my coop during fire season. When we got the evac order last year, I folded them and taped the bottoms and threw in pine shavings when we first got the warning. I'd already decided who would go together in the carriers. It was pretty easy to snatch them up and put them in the carriers. But I want to get a fishing net or rooster hook.

Now, here there is a volunteer organization that you can call to come get your animals. We had to do that for the goats, but the chickens all fit in the SUV with the dogs and cats.

I also grabbed a bucket of feed and a big container of water. I also have a tent that I can put them in if we end up staying in a parking lot or a friend's place. All the flaps of the tent open to let in air.

As it was, we took them to the fairgrounds, which is where our goats went. They had them in horse stalls there with hay, food, and water. It was pretty amazing. They even had buckets and pools for the ducks. Each stall had a clipboard with owner info. There were volunteers who would feed/water them when they were able, but we were expected to come back to take care of them daily.

As it turned out, we weren't there long as the evac order for our neighborhood was lifted before we even unloaded the birds.

 

[Aunt Angus]

When we had the bad bushfires here in NSW Australia a few years ago we evacuated our chickens quickly. It wasn’t so much that we’d been told to it was more as a cautionary thing because this fire was moving fast and unpredictability. We moved our chickens to somewhere safer (e.g. my great grandfather’s property in the lowlands where there’s less bush land).
The best advice I can give is get a dog crate or something you can transport your chickens in because if that fire comes quick then you have to be prepared to move. Also make sure they are easy to handle and if they aren’t then have something you can catch them with like a net or something.
If you have to leave and you don’t have time to get them out just open the coop door, we had some friends have to do that a few years ago and their chickens survived it. The only catch is that the predators that survived came after the chickens.
So if you can get them out that is my main suggestion.
Good luck and stay safe

We also evacuated when our evacuation zone got an Evacuation Warning, so it wasn't mandatory yet. They suggest moving out during the warning phase if you have animals. Our zone was never under mandatory evacuation.

Good suggestion about the net to catch them. I need to get one.

Another thing is that when we have fires here, folks in safer areas will go on social media and offer up pasture/stable space and offer to move animals. And we have the volunteer organization. But if the fire is moving too fast, you just gotta grab them and run. We modified a trailer to be able to fit our animals, but I would probably just load everyone into the SUV if we have to move really fast. Or let them loose, but that is too horrible for me to think about.

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

Thank you all for your recommendations! We’re still keeping a close eye on the fire updates and it’s getting a little worrisome… it’s now 10,000 acres and attempting to make its way closer and closer to us! This wind and heat wave really isn’t helping!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thank you all for your recommendations! We’re still keeping a close eye on the fire updates and it’s getting a little worrisome… it’s now 10,000 acres and attempting to make its way closer and closer to us! This wind and heat wave really isn’t helping!

I'm in Missouri, a long way from the danger zone, but I used to live in fire country and you folks are very much in my heart and prayers. Stay safe!

ETA my late older brother was a smoke jumper almost all his adult life.

 

[casportpony]

Thank you all for your recommendations! We’re still keeping a close eye on the fire updates and it’s getting a little worrisome… it’s now 10,000 acres and attempting to make its way closer and closer to us! This wind and heat wave really isn’t helping!

Is this the Fairview Fire?