Storm/possible tornado damaged one of my coops tonight

[Chicken Chat]

We were in the bulleye area of the storms that raced into the midwest tonight. The second round came through and I took cover in the basement with my dogs and cats. When it was over, I went to check on the chickens. The first two coops were good but I couldn't see the third one, the roo coop, through all the debris. A large tree had went down and tore through the roof. Luckily the sill kept it from totally crushing the coop, although it hit hard enough that the two concrete paver stones I used to level the house on that side, were crushed in two. (I'm glad I used 2x4 construction on it) Thankfully the seven silkie roos that live there were on the other side of the coop and didn't have all the roof debris fall on them, they were ok, not even a scratch, even though I am sure it scared them to death when it hit. They are in a make shift pen in my biggest coop for tonight. I have to think of something to do with them tomorrow, a makeshift outside pen of some kind. A confirmed tornado tore off a bunch of farm roofs just down the road from me so I'm not sure if my tree went down from the wind or was part of that tornado, we were getting a lot of hail at that point. Either way, this is very sad for me.

My family keeps reminding me that at least it wasn't the house and the roos were all ok, but it still sucks. Preliminary look makes me think that I can't save it. The whole back wall looks like it has been shifted and I'm fairly certain that the base wood/ floor is probably cracked on that side, and it was such a pretty little house. Only built it last fall. Makes me sad. This was it before the tree.

I'll take a picture of it tomorrow in its current state. The top of the tree took out the back fencing that was shared with the fenced in dog area. It made it into an accordian. The other chunky end of the tree base is on top of my two other fences in the chicken yard. That part is going to be a pain in the rump to keep from squashing them as well when the tree gets cut up. I HATE STORMS!
I hope everyone else escaped injury and damage tonight. My prayers are with you.

 

[bryan99705]

You build a tough coop! Looks good too! Hope your roos settle down

 

[WKYChick]

I am sorry to hear that, I know how you feel

we had a strong winds/possible tornado blow through our area tonight and I had to go rescue our chicks where the wind blew through the garage, they were all shaken up but so far so good, all peeps are alive and peeping, I had to check on the hens in their hen house but I think they are o.k.

If this weather ever settles I can't wait to get the new coop completed! I am just about to clean out the shed and turn that into a coop!

We do have a tree down in the front yard, thankfully it missed the houses and we have a lot of debris

 

[CapricornFarm]

Last year we had a big downdraft during a storm , and it split a double trunked tree in half. Half smashed the fence and blocked my access road to the goat house. The other half smashed the goat house, killing my yearling doe and trapping two other goats. It was such a big tree, that it would have taken out our house so the goat house was flattened. The two that survived were in shock, not even yelling when I found them. Managed to get the roof off of them, and picked them up. They were ok! But we cremated the other one where she lay, the big oak tree was too heavy to move to get her out for burial. It was awful:'(

 

[kcwazzu]

Sorry to hear about the coop. Happy to hear the humans and their habitation are safe.

 

[BlueBetween]

glad you and your family are ok, it's scary watching the news. Sorry about your coop, glad it wasn't worse.

 

[lotzahenz]

Storm is here now, it is not as bad as predicted, I hope it passes on through quickly and is gone. Sorry about your coop, it sure was pretty.

 

[lclough1998]

Quote:
Oh, what a terrible nightmare that must have been. Makes me sick just thinking about it! Take care and stay safe, all of you folks! The news has been horrible to watch and we are so sorry for all of your loss.

 

[ginger c.]

glad to hear y'all are ok! hang in there, this tornado season hs just been unreal!

 

[patandchickens]

I'm glad you and your family are ok! And I'm really sorry about your coop, it was beautiful, and all your other damage.

But I gotta say, TWO THUMBS UP for building something that basically DID stand up to a tree falling on it (it may have gotten smashed in, it may even not be repairable, but it did not fall completely apart or crush the walls, and that is saying something). Good example of why it's worth building things right, and why I worry when people talk about trying to squeak by with flimsy constructions!

Good luck, and hang in there, eventually this pattern of weather's *gotta* change, right?,

Pat