Two Dogs, a Sick Chicken, and a Tornado Watch

We are in the middle of a tornado watch tracking a thunderstorm due to arrive within the hour. I have moved the car underneath the big cedar tree that holds the laundry line in anticipation of predicted hail. The thunder is creeping closer over the hills and the dogs are getting restless as the distant rumbles become louder. The pressure is rising and the little red weather radio puts out a warning to take shelter and prepare for severe weather. Somehow, this time hits different with a sick chicken in the house. She is in an old dog crate i ziptied back together after cashew hulked herself out of it and it wasnt any longer structurally viable against dog escapes. So far the chicken hasnt figured her way out. She has been through a ****storm of medical issues in the past 3 days and she’s inside the house for now as myself and the dogs try to coax her in the direction of survival. She’s severely anemic. I need to get her some spinach as she vetoed the beets i gave her yesterday but the dollar general doesnt carry spinach so itll have to wait one more day. The dogs seem to know there’s something wrong with her and they’ve been very gentle and well behaved around her, even when she’s out of the crate. As the storm approaches, both dogs are checking on the chicken perched at the crate door on a pile of straw next to a water dish. They sniff her through the metal bars and check on her each time the thunder rolls through. I dont think she’s ever ridden a severe storm out in the house. It must be rather strange for her to keep company with dogs now rather than other chickens, but she is so near death she doesnt seem to have an opinion on who is here and who is not. None of it bothers her. I am unsure of whether she will survive but its never over until its over, so we will continue to try with her, and she will live in the house with us for now. Cashew and Sili are taking turns laying beside the chicken in her cage and coming over to me to panic about the thunder and lightening. If she survives i have a master plan for reintegration. I will have to take one or two chickens from the pen and put them in the house with her, then reintroduce them as a group back to the pen, or they’ll decide she lives as part of the dog clan now and must be eliminated for the crime of being an outsider.

The storm arrived with a fury i did not expect. The wind threatened to bust the windows out the side of the house and the immediate change in temperature in the house was alarming as the thing came over the hills with a force and momentum i did not anticipate. I closed the sliding barn door to the bathroom and gathered the dogs in front of it, sheltering them from the windows with my body. Outside i could hear something hitting the metal of the well house. I wasnt sure whether it would be hail or rocks kicked up by the wind. As the rain came down in torrents blown sideways in violent sweeps by the wind i began to hear a concerning noise faintly underneath all the pouring rain. It took me a while to realize that siren like noise was the wind. With the amount of wind present, the swift and breezy temperature drop in the house, and an active tornado watch, i was fairly concerned about whirlwinds we couldnt see creating themselves in the dark. I kept the dogs at the back of the house as far from the windows as i could get them to sit and kept a jacket nearby so i could cover us if need be but in the event of a twister the tiny house and everything in it would be gone and i knew that so i just prayed that there were no twisters in this storm.