Choose your high ground while everything is dry
Flood plans are written in dry weather or they are not written at all. Walk your land after the worst rain you remember and note honestly which fields stayed dry, which yard corners never puddled, and which neighbour's higher paddock or barn could take your animals by prior agreement. The destination needs fencing that holds your stock, water they can drink, and room to keep species and rivals apart — a dry field that starts a fight between two stallions or lets sheep in with a strange dog solves nothing. Agree reciprocal arrangements with a neighbour on different ground now, in writing, while you are both calm and generous.
Set a trigger that starts the move early
The animals that drown are usually the ones whose owners waited to see. Set your trigger in advance and obey it without debate: a named flood warning level for your river, water over a marked post in the ditch, or a set number of hours of heavy rain on already saturated ground. Moving early means horses walk up the lane on leads and sheep follow a bucket in daylight; moving late means swimming animals, hidden ditches, submerged wire and rescuers at risk. Trailers and the tractor route need the same early call, because a lane you can drive at noon can be impassable by dark.
Move animals in the right order, by temperament
Lead the quiet, biddable animals first to lay a scent trail and show the nervous ones the route is safe. Move breeding females with young at foot as a unit and never split a lamb from its mother in a hurry — a ewe who loses her lamb in floodwater will fight to go back for it. Confident stock can be herded along a fenced lane; flighty animals are led individually or trailered in small loads. Count out loud at the gate at both ends, because a missing animal discovered after dark in rising water is a tragedy set in motion.
Feed, water and the wait at the top
Animals may stand on high ground for days, so the plan includes what they eat and drink there: hay moved up before the fields flood, troughs filled from a clean supply, and fencing checked where floodwater will press debris against it. Never assume floodwater is drinkable — it carries slurry, fuel and sewage. Once the peak passes, resist moving back at the first drop; ground stays soft, fences carry hidden damage, and a second rise catches more stock keepers than the first.
Share the plan so it survives you being away
A flood plan that lives in one person's head fails the weekend that person is away. Write the trigger, the destination, the moving order and the gate count into one document before the wet season turns. When the warning comes at midnight, nobody should be improvising. Relatives you select can open a profile for any animal on the list once you grant them access using KinsLe Family Sharing.