This week, an EF-3 tornado ripped through Louin, Miss. leveling a large poultry farm. Between the rubble of the ruined poultry houses, 80,000 chickens survived and are sheltered in place — just without their shelters.
Miraculously, when watching the video footage, very few of what appear to be meat chickens were killed during the storm. Estimates state that the tornado left only 1,000 chickens dead. It’s pretty miraculous considering an EF-3 tornado will boast wind gusts of 136-165 miles per hour.
Some have taken to social media disparaging the poultry farm, stunned at the sight of “dead chickens everywhere” stating that the chickens have “never been loose to roam, so they barely move from their original spot.”
While the scenes of chickens left out in the open are startling, the losses to the poultry farmer are likely huge. In the case of meat birds, one barn can cost a chicken farmer around $400,000.
Commercial flocks are raised this way to prevent losses from predators, disease, weather elements, and sickness. Birds on these farms are constantly monitored for health, feed, and nutrition plans, and houses are equipped with water, humidity, temperature controls, lighting, and more.
Breeds raised for meat are generally calmer, and genetically selected for feed efficiency and disposition.
According to news sources, the tornado also injured 25 people and damaged 72 homes after touching down at 1:40 p.m. on Sunday. In its wake, the tornado left trees snapped like toothpicks, and vehicles obliterated by the high winds.
The National Weather Service counted five tornado paths on Sunday and Monday. Surveys are being continued to account for ongoing damage.
This is a developing story, and while the safety of humans impacted by the storm is a first priority, nearly all of the remaining 80,000 head of birds appear alive and relatively healthy in the video footage shown.
