Outside Poultry and Extreme Weather Conditions


As I've recently had a bout of wet and cold weather here in Arkansas, I thought I'd add a page on how to prepare your birds (and yourself) for the best success in extreme weather circumstances. I had considered having an "emergency list" for different types of storms posted for anyone who helps care for the poultry...maybe writing this page will help me on that quest!

Anyway, what we had last week was 6 inches of rain (we don't drain well and are on very flat ground) followed by a few days of much colder temperatures that added a lot of stress on already wet, stressed birds.

Preparations for rain: If your feeders or feed areas are open to the elements where feed would get wet, make an alternative plan (and a backup plan, and a backup of the backup plan...) to make sure that dry, wholesome feed may always be available to your birds. We have some birds who feed from the ground (pheasants, quail and turkeys seem to really love this), and our original chicken corral setup includes a feeder out in the open. I use the red plastic 30# Kuhl feeders, and something as simple as an old stock pot placed upside down over the top of the feeder will keep light rain out.

Preparations for cold weather: Try to make sure that your birds have plenty of extra feed and fresh water to drink. If you have extra waterers on hand, have them in a sheltered area that will not freeze and swap frozen waterers for fresh ones. If possible, run heat lights or check existing heat lights. (We have run electricity to each "bird condo" so each corral of birds has its own duplex outlet.) You may want to consider some way of keeping the water from freezing, especially if you live in a cold climate. I have had poor luck with heater bases for plastic water founts, but have wondered if an air pump for an aquarium would work to keep the water moving, but have not had a chance yet to test that as I wasn't equipped for that project when this weather hit (January '07).

As far as how much extra feed is needed, we put out 4x the norm to our wet, soggy feathered friends after the rain and in anticipation of the cold. Plan on caring for your birds TWICE as many times as you regularly do, or 4-6 times per day to check on water, keep pouring the food to them, and take care of any emergencies you might have.

I was most concerned for my two-month old Jersey Giant chicks that I just put out a few weeks ago, BUT all of them made it! My turkeys had also gotten very cold, wet and grumpy -- I changed their accomodations and had them "room" with the pheasants temporarily as the turkey yard was muddy and wet -- the turkeys are much happier and have been grateful.

Preparations for wind: Make sure that feeders and waterers are full enough so that they do not blow around. Check the integrity of your fencing, top netting, gates, gate latches, etc. and make any necessary repairs. If there is not adequate shelter where the birds can get away from the wind or block it, provide some sort of shelter or wind block. If the wind is cold, put extra food out so the birds can fuel the extra energy they will need to stay warm enough.

Preparations for flooding, hurricanes: GET YOUR BIRDS HIGH AND DRY! If you can't do that, open the gate doors and let them go as they will. They will have a significantly better chance of making it that way. If given a choice, they will stick close to home and you may be able to recover them once the water is back down.

If you have a few days or a week to contemplate upcoming emergency weather, and have hatching eggs - if you can ship some hatching eggs to someone out of the danger zone, at worst case scenario you may be able to start over with the next generation if all your birds are lost.

Preparations for a tornado: hmmmm.....take care of yourself and your family and do what you can for your livestock when conditions are more safe. Sorry, I don't have any better suggestions there.

Preparations for extreme heat: Plan extra time to be able to refill waterers and care for your outdoor birds. If possible, add extra waterers to the pens so that the birds have at least 24 hours' supply of water available at one time, and check water at least twice a day. Scrub and refill waterers before they are totally empty. Providing dust boxes for your birds to dust bathe in (if they do not have suitable turf for this in their pens) may also help. Try to make sure the birds have shade that they can seek relief under.

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