The wind blew. The rain fell. One of my chicken tractors tried to go over the rainbow and landed on the fence.
That’s really no big deal. We have one of the hog panels off of it so it’s wide open. It just gives the pullets a little extra shade and water on hot days. Last night it was empty. Nobody got hurt.
The tractor is pretty simple. Four 2x4s screwed together at the corners with a bit of plywood under each corner for a gusset. The panels are held on the frame with fence staples. The tarps are held on with tarp straps. The screws at the corners failed when it tried to land on the wicked witch. I put it all back together in front of the ever-critical chickens while the wife and kids splashed in the pond.
I can always count on them for help. This time I left the sail off…I mean the tarp that covers the side. That should help airflow and shouldn’t impact shade since the sun is almost straight up this time of year.
Since I touched on the Wizard of Oz a couple of times I’ll finish with this just for giggles.
Chism Heritage Farm 
Loved the film clip – I have never been an Oz fan, though I know the story well enough. It’s good that your shelter is so easy to rebuild. Must have been a good wind though.
Sailorssmallfarm: it was a strong wind and caused considerable damage to the farm straight east of the chicken tractor. I can’t find any other damage. Interesting – or not – this is not the first time this area has been hit.
@Caretaker. That’s too bad about the other damage east of the chicken tractor. Is it like a wind tunnel or something? There is a place where I used to sail a lot not far from here, called Squally Reach – a long inlet next to a mountain, and it funnels the wind…it can be a dead calm, and a wind can spring out of nowhere and come sweeping down that inlet at speeds like 40mph.
Sailorssmallfarm: Oh man, I’m visualizing the most lovely place – except for the squal. No, I don’t think storms have a target on this area. It is just an open area in our flat land.
We’re on transitional ground between the broad, flat Illinois prairie and the river hills. We get some terrific wind from time to time blowing across the flat. But this was isolated to a couple of small locations. I think the old hackberry was weak. It fell in all directions around the trunk. It may not have been a severe wind that brought it down, just time. The flying chicken tractor though…that’s pretty amazing. Thank God it didn’t hurt any of my pullets.
Yeah, that is good that the birds were fine. Even trees full of good memories eventually succumb to the cycle of life. You’ll get good firewood out of it, and the ash will help generate new life. That’s how it goes.