Aaaah, today was insane!
Dec. 2nd, 2012 06:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pacificpikachuHOLY CHICKEN COOP FLOODING THIS MORNING
I knew this was going to be a crazy storm, but I was not prepared for this.
After virtually no sleep last night (several nights of that in a row, but last night was the worst), mom woke me up at 9 AM saying, "You're not going to believe this."
Now, the chicken coops have had streams go through them before, but I was truly blown away. This morning, three out of four of the chicken coops were completely 100% flooded with at least 8-9" of water at minimum, around 2' feet deep at most. I couldn't find the camera otherwise I would have taken pictures. It was seriously too insane of a sight for words. It was like half of our property was legitimately deep rivers. The birds were all perched up high or wading around, except the ducks and goose who were THRILLED and swimming around.
The main coop was the worst--the henhouse (a shed) was completely flooded with deep water, and all of the chickens were up on the perches. I ended up carrying them all out and letting them all out of the coop for the rest of the day while I worked hard with a shovel for hours to improve drainage.
I felt like a scientist or something, rearranging clumps of hay and dirt to minimize resistance so the water could flow out. Some of it was pretty complex and hard work, figuring out a system to make it work. It's still pretty bad, but it's around 80-90% better now.
The tragic thing is that I lost two birds in the storm. I'm honestly thankful it wasn't more than that. Timber, my fifteen-year-old hen, was the first loss. I noticed she was missing right away and expected the worst... I've suspected for probably six months that this would probably be her last winter. I don't know how she died, her body was under water, but it's possibly she died before the flooding even started. I'm sad she died under such stressful conditions, if she did die during or after the flooding. She had a good, very long life, though. She was the last of my original chickens, and she was the daughter of one of my favorite chickens I ever had. Her mother was one of my chickens that truly gave me an appreciation of how smart, affectionate, and funny chickens can be. Timber was a smart, hardy, amicable hen, and I'll miss her.
The other loss I wasn't expecting. Poppy, my mottled Japanese hen, has had weird curling feathers for a while now. I'm not sure why. I noticed she was sitting hunched and figured she was having trouble with the cold, so I brought her in the garage so she could warm up and dry off. Then, a few hours later, I found her dead in the garage. I guess the stress was too much, with whatever was causing her feathers to be all weird like that. I thought she was going to be okay once I got her out of the rain, so I was shocked that she didn't pull through. RIP, Poppy. Not enjoying this streak of deaths, after a long period without deaths. I hope the streak is really over now.
But, at least everyone else is doing okay now, it seems. The chickens actually had fun outside of the coop once the sun came out, running around, preening themselves to help dry out their feathers, eating worms and grass, and exploring.
Ugh, it was so stressful. So much hard work and worrying and just feeling overwhelmed. Now everything seems to be over, though there are still some considerable puddles in the coops.
It doesn't help that I got only around two hours of sleep last night, if that, because I had trouble sleeping, listening to the insane storm, and then Hana was barking and barking intermittently for hours. I kept getting up to try to let her out, but she didn't want to go out in the crazy wind and rain. Finally it calmed down a little and she went out, then came to sit on my bed with me and that seemed to help. I think she was scared of the storm. It was an awful night and then a crazy day.
I'm super, super exhausted, and I have work tomorrow (probably a full day of hard work), so I'm stressed and hoping I'm not going to totally burn out. Despite my utter exhaustion, I'm still having trouble sleeping, and I don't know why! I took a short nap today, but that's it.
I knew this was going to be a crazy storm, but I was not prepared for this.
After virtually no sleep last night (several nights of that in a row, but last night was the worst), mom woke me up at 9 AM saying, "You're not going to believe this."
Now, the chicken coops have had streams go through them before, but I was truly blown away. This morning, three out of four of the chicken coops were completely 100% flooded with at least 8-9" of water at minimum, around 2' feet deep at most. I couldn't find the camera otherwise I would have taken pictures. It was seriously too insane of a sight for words. It was like half of our property was legitimately deep rivers. The birds were all perched up high or wading around, except the ducks and goose who were THRILLED and swimming around.
The main coop was the worst--the henhouse (a shed) was completely flooded with deep water, and all of the chickens were up on the perches. I ended up carrying them all out and letting them all out of the coop for the rest of the day while I worked hard with a shovel for hours to improve drainage.
I felt like a scientist or something, rearranging clumps of hay and dirt to minimize resistance so the water could flow out. Some of it was pretty complex and hard work, figuring out a system to make it work. It's still pretty bad, but it's around 80-90% better now.
The tragic thing is that I lost two birds in the storm. I'm honestly thankful it wasn't more than that. Timber, my fifteen-year-old hen, was the first loss. I noticed she was missing right away and expected the worst... I've suspected for probably six months that this would probably be her last winter. I don't know how she died, her body was under water, but it's possibly she died before the flooding even started. I'm sad she died under such stressful conditions, if she did die during or after the flooding. She had a good, very long life, though. She was the last of my original chickens, and she was the daughter of one of my favorite chickens I ever had. Her mother was one of my chickens that truly gave me an appreciation of how smart, affectionate, and funny chickens can be. Timber was a smart, hardy, amicable hen, and I'll miss her.
The other loss I wasn't expecting. Poppy, my mottled Japanese hen, has had weird curling feathers for a while now. I'm not sure why. I noticed she was sitting hunched and figured she was having trouble with the cold, so I brought her in the garage so she could warm up and dry off. Then, a few hours later, I found her dead in the garage. I guess the stress was too much, with whatever was causing her feathers to be all weird like that. I thought she was going to be okay once I got her out of the rain, so I was shocked that she didn't pull through. RIP, Poppy. Not enjoying this streak of deaths, after a long period without deaths. I hope the streak is really over now.
But, at least everyone else is doing okay now, it seems. The chickens actually had fun outside of the coop once the sun came out, running around, preening themselves to help dry out their feathers, eating worms and grass, and exploring.
Ugh, it was so stressful. So much hard work and worrying and just feeling overwhelmed. Now everything seems to be over, though there are still some considerable puddles in the coops.
It doesn't help that I got only around two hours of sleep last night, if that, because I had trouble sleeping, listening to the insane storm, and then Hana was barking and barking intermittently for hours. I kept getting up to try to let her out, but she didn't want to go out in the crazy wind and rain. Finally it calmed down a little and she went out, then came to sit on my bed with me and that seemed to help. I think she was scared of the storm. It was an awful night and then a crazy day.
I'm super, super exhausted, and I have work tomorrow (probably a full day of hard work), so I'm stressed and hoping I'm not going to totally burn out. Despite my utter exhaustion, I'm still having trouble sleeping, and I don't know why! I took a short nap today, but that's it.
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no subject
Date: 2012-12-06 02:00 am (UTC)That's so touching about your story with Timber and Poppy. You'll probably be glad to hear that I tried facing my fears the other day with some chickens. I went to a museum that has chickens on the grounds and I didn't run away. I just stood there as they rushed by but I was pretty proud that I didn't run off. hahaha.
Keep up all of the good work! You're doing awesome and I hope that your property wasn't too badly damaged and you guys can pick it up agains.