Thursday evening a tornado came through my valley. I am so sad because my beautiful peahen Crystal was killed. They have a pen but most of the time go up in the trees at night. The only time they use the pen is if it is raining hard or a snowstorm in the winter. If the storm happens after dark they are up in the trees and will not come down. Sadly the tornado came through right as it was getting dark. Ice and Crystal had already flown up into the trees. I was going crazy when it was happening because I knew they were up in the trees. I kept trying to see if their tree was still stand but could not see. As soon as the winds died down I took a flash light and ran out side to look for them. Their tree was still standing but I couldnt see them. After some running around I saw Ice the peacock low in a tree. I dont know how he managed to hang on but thankfully he did. I found Crystal on the ground under a farm wagon. She didnt even try to run when I picked her up so I know she was hurt bad. Still I hoped she was just scared. I put her in their pen then went to help take trees off the road to open it up. The power was out. When I checked on her later she was just standing on one of the perches she had jumped up on when I put her in. When it got light the next morning I went out to check her and know it was not good. She had a broken egg hanging out of her. I got all the egg out and cleaned her up and put her back. When I went back checked on her she was still passing more of the clear and yokes of the eggs. She died that morning. I dont know what happened but think she was blown out of the tree and slammed up against some thing hard enough to break the eggs inside her and other things. It was so sad when I brought her out of the pen to bury her Ice stood guard over her. He kept chasing the chickens away staying very close to her. He watched us bury her after we were done he walked down to the spot very slowly and just stood there. He keeps calling for her. They had a call they would make when they could not see each other. That is what he is doing. Saturday I went to Amys Peacock Paradise and got two hens for him so I hope he will stop calling for Crystal. He is still making that call today but not as much as he did on Friday and Saturday. Then he did it most of the time. He is starting to check out the two hens in the pen. They are a blue like Crystal and a blackshoulder. We named them Hailly and Windy because of the tornado. The people at Amy are very nice and have a lot of birds. Today we finely had our power and Internet restored. It is a Memorial Day Weekend I will never forget. Crystal was the only causality of the tornado. When I decided to free range I knew of the dangers but never thought a tornado would be one of them here in Eastern Pennsylvania. RIP My little Crystal.
