We Love Chickens, Not Hurricanes
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| Thursday Morning, dealing with tarps in 7-24mph wind LOL |
Hurricane Nicole came to visit us in mid November. She began to show herself on Wednesday Nov 9th during the day light hours, the wind was picking up and we had some rain off and on. I was out on the driveway a lot mounting a couple of video cameras so we can see cars coming and going and keep an eye on things from the safety of the P2 Master Control Room (aka kitchen). When we went to bed around 9PM we were having 6mph wind according to our West weather station.
Around midnight I was awakened by the sound of wind, it was loud, like the roar of a hurricane.
Around 2am we got up and went to the kitchen to see what's happening. The wind was blowing quite strong and it was raining. We saw wind gusts of 24mph with sustained averages around 6-9mph.
Since Hurricane Ian visited us at the end of September (2022) and mostly power washed our trees of loose debris we did not have the usual ground cover mess after this hurricane.
WHAT ABOUT THE CHICKENS?
Everyone was fine, nicely protected in their sturdy plastic Formex houses. The sound of rain and wind was scary to them but by midday Thursday the storm was all but forgotten.
WHAT ABOUT THE PEACOCKS AND THE PEAHENS?
At 2am during the storm our conversation was all about hoping our larger bird friends would be ok roosting high up in the pine trees behind our house. They came down early the morning after and immediately headed out to eat frogs and lizards. Later they came and lay around our property napping after an absolutely dreadful night hanging on for dear life in the midst of the wind (which is much stronger high up (70 feet) in the pine trees behind our home).
LOSSES AND DAMAGES
One of my outdoor video cameras was knocked to the ground and the casing was broken in the fall. :-(
Tarps on Orangies aviary were torn loose and were flapping wildly.
LESSENS LEARNED
Cut the tarps off the chicken aviary's to reduce damage to these vital components to everyday chicken life.
Even if it looks like a lame hurricane do some basic preparation beyond rolling down the shutters. The wind did the most damage, as in destroying Weems outdoor experiments.
Don't underestimate the wind (even at our protected home site). [Painting easel knocked down. little solar panel flipped on to its face, camera blown down (not much sail there yet it got blown over)].
Make sure the chickens have lots of treats to eat and drink the day beforehand, just in case they must stay inside a little longer than usual morning play time.
HURRICANE NICOLE DATA FROM OUR WEATHER STATIONS
RAINFALL TOTAL FOR THIS STORM = 4.88 inches (NOV 9 = 2.62, NOV 10 2.26) not much
PEAK WIND SPEED RECORDED AT P2 = 24mph
AVERAGE WIND SPEED RECORDED AT P2 = 6 to 11mph
TOTAL HOURS OF POWER OUTAGE = NONE, FPL ROCKS!
