Hurricane coming - opinions welcome for preps

[Bawkbok]

Hello - we have an Omlet cube - see pics. For a tropical storm, we previously tarped out the small run attached to the cube; see below. We will do the same for this storm - coming in two days. We will be in the direct path. As you can see, the skirt is all bricked out and the cube itself is very heavy so we are not concerned about it blowing away but my questions are:

1) do we leave the coop door open or close and lock them in - targeted to be a Cat 3. My thinking was to leave the door open so they can access the small run area if they want to get out for a bit as we did during a tropical storm, which was no where near the wind force we will sustain during this hurricane. Not sure if this is a good idea. With it going to be fully tarp covered, the wind shouldn't blow them all around.....thoughts?

2) They will have no tip dog bowls inside the coop with food and water. Is there anything I can add to the water, i.e. essential oil of any kind or anything else to help with the stress level during the storm, which will last about 18 hours in terms of heavy rain and wind.

3) I will place some lavender and lemon grass cuttings inside the coop. Is there anything else anyone can think of that might help keep them calm?

Any other Omlet owners out there facing this problem? What are your preps and management strategies?
Thank you!

Included a picture of our girls just for fun.

 

[azygous]

You can expect over 100mph gusts. That will blow a travel trailer over, let alone a little plastic Igloo. To be prepared for wind of that force, you need to sink concrete footings with rebar loops to anchor the Igloo. I doubt there's time to do this, though, for this storm.

If five chickens are all you have, I would plan to bring them into the house for the period when the storm is at its most intense. You could lose your chickens if you don't plan for the worst.

 

[FunClucks]

You can expect over 100mph gusts. That will blow a travel trailer over, let alone a little plastic Igloo. To be prepared for wind of that force, you need to sink concrete footings with rebar loops to anchor the Igloo. I doubt there's time to do this, though, for this storm.

If five chickens are all you have, I would plan to bring them into the house for the period when the storm is at its most intense. You could lose your chickens if you don't plan for the worst.

Agreed. @Bawkbok See if you can get them into a dog crate in the tornado shelter. Just enough room to walk around, eat, and drink, and plenty of shavings, for a day or two should be fine with you keeping an eye on them. But yeah, I wouldn't leave them outside in your setup. No telling what might happen. Also bring in anything you don't want torn up or blown away by the storm, as much as you can do it. We don't get hurricanes, we get tornadoes, but it's much the same wind-wise. Also consider if your coop area or house might be subjected to flooding. All of my coops are setup to deal with 1+ ft of water. The creek overflowed year before last and we lost some birds and a lot of feed due to unexpected flooding. Luckily, all my coops were firmly attached to the ground and lightweight/made of metal, so the water just flowed through the hardware cloth sides. But the chickens who had dog crate isolation crates to shelter on top of, or elevated perches did much better than those who didn't. So all my feed and water sits on 18" cinder blocks now and everyone has dedicated elevated perches. Your omelet would probably float, so consider that. My entire woodpile floated around the yard and luckily didn't take out my chain link fence.

Bathing and hair-drying 20+ chickens after the flood before they could expire from hypothermia was also no fun. It was a good thing I still had 3 XXL dog crates set up in the garage to put them in while I rebuilt the coop that collapsed from water building up on top of my tarp. Still, a lot of mess to clean out of the bathroom afterwards.

 

[Bawkbok]

As if I wasn't nervous enough, now I'm extremely anxious. Dang!!!
Points well taken and no, we don't have time for concrete footings.
I guess I'll set up the quarantine pen in the LR - it's only 4x4 ft square so clearly not enough room for the 3 girls and it will honestly take up the entire spare space of the room - this is a tiny house stuffed with two large dogs.
Flooding around the house is always a concern and we have low lying areas. I have to slosh my way to the run during a normal thunderstorm. Well crap! We need a bigger house!
Placing them in the garage is not an option as it's like 120 degrees out there and our bathroom is barely big enough to stand in and turn around for one average size person.
I'll say it again, we need a bigger house. What to do what to do.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

 

[FunClucks]

As if I wasn't nervous enough, now I'm extremely anxious. Dang!!!
Points well taken and no, we don't have time for concrete footings.
I guess I'll set up the quarantine pen in the LR - it's only 4x4 ft square so clearly not enough room for the 3 girls and it will honestly take up the entire spare space of the room - this is a tiny house stuffed with two large dogs.
Flooding around the house is always a concern and we have low lying areas. I have to slosh my way to the run during a normal thunderstorm. Well crap! We need a bigger house!
Placing them in the garage is not an option as it's like 120 degrees out there and our bathroom is barely big enough to stand in and turn around for one average size person.
I'll say it again, we need a bigger house. What to do what to do.

4ft x 4ft is plenty of space for just a day or two for 3 girls. They could probably fit into less space if needed. Look at them from above - birds' bodies can cover 2/3 of the floorspace of an enclosure, and be fine, more than that its a bit tight but can work for a day or two. Barring that, one hen will fit in a cat crate for a while, and you just provide really small bowls of food and water a couple times a day. Also, consider that if you have smaller crates/cages, you can stack them. Weigh them down or tie them or zip tie them together to secure them in place so they don't fall over, and you could stack all 3 of your hens in small crates vertically to maximize floor space for your dogs. They just need enough space to stand up and turn around and get to food and water. For a day or two it will be fine.

I like to make horizontal nipple waterers from recycled plastic square containers with wide screw on lids or old water bottles - fits well into small spaces, and enough water for one or two chickens for a day or so. Also avoids spills and keeps water clean. Pretty easy to train that if you haven't already. I use old feed bags and attach them half way up one side of a wire mesh crate, across the bottom, and halfway up the other side of the crate, and fold to include ends, and layer for length. Attach to the inside of the crate with zip ties, then put the plastic pans that came with the crate inside the U-shape you made inside the crate with the feed bags. Keeps shavings and small spills contained well, and easy to scoop out the plastic bottom tray with a dustpan.

Don't over stress the chickens, I know you've got a lot of other things to worry about. Minimal space housing and a store of food, water, and shavings is really all they'll need for a few days. Good luck!!!

 

[FunClucks]

As if I wasn't nervous enough, now I'm extremely anxious. Dang!!!
Points well taken and no, we don't have time for concrete footings.
I guess I'll set up the quarantine pen in the LR - it's only 4x4 ft square so clearly not enough room for the 3 girls and it will honestly take up the entire spare space of the room - this is a tiny house stuffed with two large dogs.
Flooding around the house is always a concern and we have low lying areas. I have to slosh my way to the run during a normal thunderstorm. Well crap! We need a bigger house!
Placing them in the garage is not an option as it's like 120 degrees out there and our bathroom is barely big enough to stand in and turn around for one average size person.
I'll say it again, we need a bigger house. What to do what to do.

Also, I've known folks to store chickens in the shower or bathtub/shower in a pinch. Block off the drain, pull the (plastic) shower curtain across (for a tub shower) to provide a visible barrier and keep them in the tub, and stick some shavings and food and water in there and you'll be good to go for a few days. Vertical shower stalls are more of a challenge, but if you have to you can make it work. Heck, you could stack cat crates with chickens in there if needed when you're not using it, and move them when you do. In an emergency, for very short periods, chickens can be contained/transported in a sturdy cardboard box that they can lie down in, with tape to keep the flaps shut. Put air holes and check ventilation often if they'll be in there for more than a few moments or if it's hot.

Breathe. It will be okay. you have options. Sending you supportive thoughts!

 

[NanaK]

Agree with moving the chickens inside if possible.
I would remove the tarps and store them until after the storm. They will act like a sail and possibly be torn to sheds.

 

[Bawkbok]

Ok, I'm trying not to lose it - there's so much to do. I ran to the grocery store this morning and didn't have time to wait in the gas lines so there's still that to do - as I'm expecting to lose power. The last hurricane we were without power for 6 days in triple digit heat, as it is now, heat index is 99 right now.

The feed bag in the crate is a good idea. I'm going to spend the afternoon measuring spaces and moving furniture around to set up the dog pen. Geezo pete! We need a bigger house!!

 

[azygous]

Whatever measures you need to take to keep the three (be grateful it's only three) chickens safe will be very short term inconvenience. Look on this as a lab experiment. You will learn stuff. Then you will have plenty of time to implement what you've learned. Meanwhile, the three chickens will be safe.

But having a plan right now to keep your chickens safe until the storm is over takes priority. Chickens can survive just fine for a few days in pet crates.

My biggest danger is forest fire driven by 70-80mph gusts. I have a "panic plan" to keep my chickens safe should a fire come at me like a giant blow torch. Smoke and burning cinders are the biggest danger. It's always wise to know what the very worst danger might be and have a plan, even if you may never need it.