Ike

We've been prepping for Hurricane Ike around here today. We did what the checklists recommend: fill the cars with gas, stock up on bottled water, stash some cash, put away the porch chairs and outdoor toys, and grab extra food and batteries. We even had to take the onions down.

Then we faced the big question not covered on the checklists: What do you do with chickens during a hurricane? We live nowhere near the coast, so we don't get many hurricanes. I actually have no idea how to help these poor birds through this event. Chickens like lots of fresh air, so their home is a 3-sided hen house attached to a big wire coop. Most of the coop is covered but it is all open wire on the sides. When it rains they love to hang out up on their roosts where they stay nice and dry. 

But I'm not sure if their 4 little toes will be strong enough to hang on during 50-mile-per-hour winds. And if they get blown to the ground in a torrential downpour they might not make it back up on the roost at all. And those are the conditions forecasters are calling for this weekend.

Maybe we should leave those biddies loose in the pasture and let them try to find a good place to hunker down? That might work, but I can imagine some potential problems. Chickens have very small heads, as you know. And their brains have to fit inside those tiny heads. Enough said. If they fly into the tree tops to try to roost there, they'll be blown into the next county. If they chose a low spot to squat they'll be drowned. Oh my.

There is still a chance that Ike will not pack the punch that they've predicted, so we are praying for that. Big prayers for those on the coast who will really feel its power.