The Turkey Trot

Friday evening found us in the basement again.  I have lived my whole life in this area and have never experienced the number of tornado warnings that we've had this year.  It's incredible.  I noted to my lovely wife, as we were huddled around the glow of a Dell laptop, that the worst of the storm was starting in Carleton...of course...that's where the chicken pens are located.

I've been asked on more than one occasion how the chickens and turkeys fair in the rain.  It's not really a problem for them.  But in our case, because of the types of pens we use, wind is a problem.  And thus it was proved out that night.

After the sirens ceased and we had the "all clear", we went back upstairs.  In just a few minutes I got the call from my friend who owns the farm.

The wind (approximately 35 mph) had blown the pens over.  All the birds were loose and running free.

*Sigh* ....so much for a relaxing evening at home.

The first order of business? GET THOSE BIRDS!

Amazingly, every bird was perfectly fine; slightly damp, but perfectly fine.  One of the pens took a severe beating.  We estimated that it blew about 75 feet.  We fixed it the next morning.

And a good (mosquito bitten, wet, muggy) time was had by all.  We rounded up 37 chickens, 10 turkeys, and 5 crazy children.  Or, as my wife put it, we did the Turkey Trot.