Nuclear attack Protecting live stock

We don't have any large live stock. Just chickens and maybe rabbits (future).

Would putting the chickens in the barn save them from fallout ?

I really want to continue to be sustainable, so I am hoping there is a general rule of thumb.
So any ideas you might have or plans your making with your family might be helpful...

Dave58 wrote:... chickens and maybe rabbits (future).

Would putting the chickens in the barn save them from fallout ?

... is a general rule of thumb.
...

Well, there are several steps, in determining this, each of which can be simplified into a rule of thumb, with the goal of giving you a fairly good chance of a good outcome.

The first three things that need to be considered, is what kind of target, how far away, and what kind of attack.

If the attacker is launching from another country (Russia, China or Venezuela, for instance) they will probably detonate the nuclear warhead about a quarter mile above the ground, to maximize the area that will be damaged. Unless they are targeting a hardened, underground, facility. In that case, they will attempt to drive the warhead into the ground and detonate it. Another possibility is that this is a terrorist, in which case the nuke will be detonated on the surface.

First, the good news, if the warhead is detonated a quarter mile above the ground the fallout components will be short lived, and you only need shelter for a day or two. If the bomb is detonated on or in the ground, the biggest fallout will be nearby, or will travel in a straight line from the site, with the biggest particles nearby. So, either way, as long as you aren't too close, the need for shelter is only for a day or two.

Now, for the bad news. For that day or two, you will have some real challenges.

We are talking about defending against a fine, powdery, radioactive dust. Generally, you need two factors, shielding, and filtration.

Shielding is simply putting materials (a pound of dirt is almost as good as a pound of lead) between the radioactive dust and the chickens (and yourself) and filtration can be as easy as a fan with a decent furnace air filter duct taped to it. Generally, anything is better than nothing.

The fallout, for a few miles, will spread out about a mile every minute. Beyond that radius, it will be carried by the wind, which travels about two or three times as fast "up there" as it does down here.

So, the next question is, how much ? time ? do you think you will have, to get them into a shelter, and still be able to get other necessary things done (like getting yourself into shelter)?

Along the lines of "a pint of sweat can save a gallon of blood" (Oliver Cromwell), you might want a crude "chicken shelter" inside of that barn.

So, the first two questions are:
How far away do you think this will be, and how much time do you think you will have, after you "see the flash" or get some other warning ?

(That "flash" BTW, isn't like a camera flash, it will last between two and ten seconds, depending on the size of the bomb.)

Well, in the absence of an actual answer to the questions I asked, I think I will outline a basic, crude, fallout shelter, for chickens. I am not a chicken tender, so if I need some correction, someone should jump in and correct me.

This shelter idea can be extrapolated to similar rules for humans.

me wrote:Along the lines of "a pint of sweat can save a gallon of blood" (Oliver Cromwell), you might want a crude "chicken shelter" inside of that barn.

I said before, that shielding is a matter of mass. There isn't much difference between dirt and lead, as long as you have a lot of dirt. Might take almost ten times as much, as the lead shield would.

First you need a basic floor plan. I think, for a short term, 3sq feet per bird should be sufficient, so a 6 by 6 foot area should be good for a dozen birds, and an 8 by 8 area should do for 21 birds.

For minimum shielding, I would build the walls out of cinder block, about 4 feet high (to give them some roost and nest areas, that can be added, later). Since we are expecting this to go for a couple of days, they will need light, plenty of water, and some food. To deal with the shaking that is likely to follow a detonation, drop a rebar into every other hole, then fill the cinder block holes with dirt or sand.

That was a minimum. for a heavy duty shield, do two walls, about 16 inches apart, and connect them together with anything that will keep them from falling away from each other, then fill the holes and the 16 inch gap between them with dirt or sand.

Each  of the walls needs a "window" near the top, which is simply an opening where you can install a fan to drive air into the shelter.

Cover exit window vents with window screen (to insure nothing goes in, through them), sandwitched between two layers of hardware cloth (to keep things from damaging the screen). The intake window will have a fan, drawing air through a filter, to push air into the shelter.

A minimum vent fan would be a common box fan, and a minimum filter would be a standard furnace or HVAC filter. (Just not the cheap, fiberglass, type.) The filter and fan need to be mounted off the floor, at least a few inches (but, two feet would be better).

I don't know, right now, how many chickens one fan would support, but, it needs to keep them cool and give them fresh air. The slight pressure created by the air escaping through the screens will mean that the door and other weak spots don't have to be completely air tight.

The roof for the shelter is a bit more complex.

Here are some basics, to get the design started, and begin to see what the cost will be.

Ceiling joists should be an inch thick (2 by 6's for six foot span), for each foot of span (you can split the span with an iron center beam), and how many you will need will depend on how much dirt you put on top of it. Start with a ring of sand bags around the edge, and begin filling it in.

I will take a break right now, and see if I can find how many joists are needed, for each inch of dirt.

Well, I can't find that, right now, but I think, using 2x6's for a six foot span, or 2x8's for an 8 foot span, the ceiling should be able to handle 200 lbs of dirt per rafter. Maybe more. Don't count the outer ring of sand bags, since they are directly on top of the wall. Since it is in a barn or other shelter, it doesn't need to be water tight, and the dirt won't trap water to add weight. (If trapping water could be a problem, you need plastic over the dirt, to keep water out of the dirt.)

If this is being built outdoors, the ceiling gets a bit more complicated, to deal with the weather.