Upcoming blizzard: Concerned about chickens+coop...Help!!!!

[77horses]

There's a huge blizzard, as some of you have heard about, that's going to hit the Northern states. My state is expected to get 10-20" of snow this weekend!

We have two chicken coops; one was made out of a wooden storage shed that we've had for a long time and the other is inside a two-car garage.

I'm pretty sure that the storage shed coop will be fine during the blizzard, but I'm worried about the coop inside the garage.The roof of the garage has not been very sturdy all this year and we haven't had a chance to fix it lately. We are worried that the roof or part of the roof is going to cave in because of the weight of the snow and the force of the wind, which is expected to be close to being as strong as hurricane winds.

What should we do with the chickens in the garage??? We can't put them in the storage shed coop because the roosters would fight with each other (plus the aggressive Red Star hens wouldn't mix well with the dominant Buff Orp hens...trust me I've had experience with them being mixed together and it doesn't go well...) and it would be a bit crowded...So that's not an option. I was thinking about bringing them in the house, but my dad doesn't agree. Where could we put them??? There are two Buff Orp hens, a bantam hen, an Amer. hen, a Cochin/Amer. pullet, a big Cochin rooster, and a Cochin/Buff Orp pullet...That's 7 total chickens! And they aren't chicks anymore, so I obviously can't just bring them inside and keep them in a brooder box like i could if they were chicks.

Has anyone had to keep there chickens in their house before? How did you do it? How can we possibly keep 7 grown chickens in the house for a whole weekend???

Help!!!

Thanks!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

If you are willing to purchase some large to medium size dog crates then they can go in the house. Even in a laundry room if you can put up with the smell and poop. Seven isn't that many.

 

[they'reHISchickens]

Are you saying the garage roof is going to collapse on the entire garage?
I think if it were eminent, I would put a tarp and something very solid over them to protect their coop roof from coming down right on top of them and leave it at that. They won't care if the garage comes down as long as their coop roof is still above their heads and the sides are not falling in. They really don't care about your garage.
You could even make a temporarily reinforced mini coop in their area. So long as you keep the snow and wind off them, they will be fine. Worst case scenario... the roof falls in... make sure you can access their area to provide food and water. They will fare better than you will under the circumstances.

 

[Dar]

i would try and secure the best you can from the inside of the garage. is the coop movable? if it is i would move them to a section where the roof is in a little better shape and tarp off things the best you can

 

[77horses]

they'reHISchickens :

Are you saying the garage roof is going to collapse on the entire garage?
I think if it were eminent, I would put a tarp and something very solid over them to protect their coop roof from coming down right on top of them and leave it at that. They won't care if the garage comes down as long as their coop roof is still above their heads and the sides are not falling in. They really don't care about your garage.
You could even make a temporarily reinforced mini coop in their area. So long as you keep the snow and wind off them, they will be fine. Worst case scenario... the roof falls in... make sure you can access their area to provide food and water. They will fare better than you will under the circumstances.

You see, the beams on half of the garage are very loose and the roof is sagging in on one part...Unfortunately, their coop is part of the garage. It's not separate. It's basically a wooden frame with mesh wiring, a door, perches, a window, and nest boxes. It doesn't have a roof, since it's inside the garage, which is the coop's roof.

It has started snowing already and we are very limited on supplies to build a coop, let alone find a place to build it.

Now is just NOT the best time for a blizzard to hit us!

We have an old bus that is unused. Maybe we will put them in that for now.​

 

[geebs]

If the roof falls and the chickens are not in it.. good... If it falls and they are??? You decide

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Obviously, either way is bad. But if they are in it when it falls, that's waaay worse. I can't even imagine it. My poor little Oreo is in there!!!!

I think I'll do the box idea you told me. We may have some boxes in the garage now that we could bring inside...


All I know is that if the blizzard is as bad as they say it's going to be, they aren't staying in there. I'm worried that my dad won't agree, though. He thinks that they will be fine and they will take care of themselves... And he really isn't warming up to the idea of bringing them inside the house.

thanks again and Happy new Year!

 

[prancie]

you could put them in crates and then put the crates in the other, sturdier coop. You could even erect some cardboard screens to block their view of the other chickens

 

[ND Sue]

Can you nail up something in your existing coop to wall off an area for the garage flock to go in the other coop? Do you have any plywood sheets, sheet metal, or a dog kennel panel? Or you could use 2x4's with chicken wire, or maybe even straw or hay bales would work if stacked high enough.

I think that would be healthier for them than to bring them in the house. I would try to get them in the other coop and keep the 2 flocks separate.

After the blizzard, be sure and get that snow off the roof! We just had a blizzard over Christmas and a few roofs caved in around here. Including a big brick university building at NDSU!

 

[mylilchix]

You could move them into your basement in large cardboard boxes if need be. I've done that with injured or sick birds. Do you usually get heavy wet snow or light powdery snow? The powdery snow shouldn't effect the roof of the garage too much.