# Hurricane Sandy Preparations



## Lissa (Oct 23, 2012)

Hey, this will be my first hurricane since owning my chickens. 

What preparations/suggestions do any of the experienced owners have? We have the Quacker Tractor coop and it appears to be really solid/insulated. Thanks for any suggestions.


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

I've been through one mild hurricane since having poultry. I live in the hot humid South, so all of my coops have rather large doors and windows, covered in hardware cloth. I also have electricity running to the two larger coops to run fans. My largest coop has two large, solid doors to cover the screened doors. The other coop has large shutters to cover the windows, but nothing to cover the top portion of their screened door. 

For the larger coop, I simply close and securely latch the solid doors covering the screened doors. I do leave a small window at the back of the coop at least partially open, perhaps 4 inches, for proper ventilation. For the other coop, I close and latch the shutters. We use heavy duty plastic to cover the majority of the screened door opening, stopping the plastic just a few inches from the top to allow for the ventilation. The smallest of my three coops is in a protected area and other than putting a few cinder blocks on the roof for weight, I don't have to prep it. I disconnect the power source from the coops. 

Is your tractor coop movable? If so, is it possible to move it to a area where it would be more protected from winds and blowing rain? 

Good luck to you and stay safe.


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## sandra (Sep 2, 2012)

I live in central North Carolina and am no stranger to hurricanes and tornados. I move the birds houses closer to our house to help with wind barrier. But you do want some wind to be able to pass through some . I put extra straw in there for them to bed down in and I also have those dog igloo houses I put in the bird house for extra protection. My waterfowl are alright with the water but my chickens are not too keen so I put mini perches in the igloos for them with lots of straw for them to snuggle up. Everyone stays in the igloos when bad weather is happening other wise they just sit on top it. The key thing for chickens is to keep them dry.


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## Roslyn (Jun 21, 2012)

I have little windows with chicken wire that my husband covers in the winter, but it still allows ventilation. The last windy rainy storm blew a lot of rain in the window, so he is putting those on early this year for the storm. We also have a tarp covering a leaking roof, so he is tightening that up. We HAVE to repair it before winter.

Have feed on hand, and if you don't have an outside water source, fill up some buckets so if you lose water you still have water for your birds.


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## sandra (Sep 2, 2012)

Yeah I forgot about mentioning water cause we have large pond for our critters. But definitely have water just invade


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

Lissa, I just prepared emergency quarters in my shed. I also just got a call that they are evacuating my area. Voluntary but still... Worse comes to worse, the chickens come inside with the rest of us! Lol


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## sandra (Sep 2, 2012)

Energyvet. I would do the same thing!


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## DansChickens (Sep 14, 2012)

*Sandy preparness*

Waking up early to take care of the chickens before 40 mph winds and 5-15 inches of rain


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

Okay folks. Temporary chicken lockdown evacuation quarters. Should be safe and happy in here. Wish us good Karma everyone. Love you all - remember that!


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## cogburn (Jul 16, 2012)

Energyvet said:


> Okay folks. Temporary chicken lockdown evacuation quarters. Should be safe and happy in here. Wish us good Karma everyone. Love you all - remember that!


All the best EV my friend.. And to all others as well.


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## Roslyn (Jun 21, 2012)

Good Luck EV!! Batten down the hatches!


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## Lissa (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the information! My hubby seems to think that their coop weighing about 600 lbs (and it is fairly close to the house) should be safe but....I am going to build a safety area in the garage just in case I need to run them inside tomorrow. Yes, EV be safe as I believe you are closer to the shore (I am 30 minutes inland) in your county.


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## sandra (Sep 2, 2012)

Be careful and all the best to you all. I will be thinking about you up there. We got some winds here but not like you're gonna get.


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

I'm 5 minutes from Sandy Hook beach on the coast. :-/


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## sallycat19 (Oct 16, 2012)

Hope that u all stay safe, both humans and animals x


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