Return of the Snow Beast

Last night around 9:00 I headed down the hill for my evening check on the animals and turning out of lights. What I found was a collapsed shelter.

This is the carport that sheltered the chicken kennel and the straw. Several of the chickens liked to roost on top of the kennel, under the fiberglass panels that help keep the kennel dry. The carport collapsed on top of them.

As I shone my flashlight up to determine the damage, I could see these poor squished chickens. I assumed they were dead, until one blinked at me. I then started what turned into a 2 hour project of digging them out. There was about 8 inches of snow on the tarp roof, now partly melted and partly frozen. Very heavy, very hard to move. 

I got the chickens all out. One had a broken neck from a pole that fell on her, but the others were all OK. I opened the garage door, and a stream of chickens headed in. 

Several decided to stay out in the kennel. A couple were on top, but I finally managed to catch them and put then inside where they wouldn't freeze and wouldn't be owl bait.

You can see how the tarp has been smushed down on the roof of the kennel. Poor chickens!

Once I had all the chickens safe, I noticed that what was holding up the bottom of the fallen structure was my beloved Ursa cart. I took a deep breath, and dug off enough snow to allow me to move the structure off the cart. Fortunately it wasn't hurt. Good cart. All the snow you see above the cart fell last night.

This morning I opened the garage door, expecting to be met by a stream of chickens heading back outside. These are, after all, the birds that have always refused to come inside.

Not a one tried to leave. I guess the building seems a lot safer now than the outside world.