Fire in the Chicken Coop(thanksgiving tragedy)

At about 2:40 AM I was woken up by Lulu loosing her mind at the sliding glass door. I was sleeping on the couch, both me and the dog were. Kent was sleeping on another couch in the same room, and was woken up by the dog too. While I ignored her and tried to sleep some more, Kent got up thinking the dog needed to poop. He yelled "Oh shit!" and rushed outside. I shot up and ran to the door. There was an orange glow engulfing something. It took me several seconds to comprehend that the chicken coop was on fire.

Kent got the hose and started putting the fire out, while I freaked out a bit and looked for my mom and my aunt Eshale. The triplets, the seven year old and Dinah were all asleep, Dinah being asleep through all of it was surprising because she was on the couch with Kent. I checked upstairs, to find Eshales room empty. I checked the garage and found them both. I told them the chicken coop was on fire, and all of us rushed outside.

My mom grabbed a couple flashlights and started looking for the chickens. A hen was lying a few feet from the burning wreck. She was burned badly, her face was blackened by the fire and the smell of burnt feathers was in the air. My mom wrapped her in a towel and put her in a box. It was then I realized that it was 30 degrees and I was in a t-shirt and short-shorts.

After putting on warmer clothing, I went back outside. Eshale was wracked with sobs, Kent was done putting out the fire and putting warmer clothes on as well. Eshale called the police and they dispatched a couple firefighters. My mom then found a second hen and put her with the first.

When the firefighters arrived, they tried to discern the cause of the fire while we looked for the two roosters. One of the firefighters told us that one was on the other side of the house. My mom ran to get him and we found that it was Shamrock, the dominant of the two roosters. His plume was gone and he was burned badly as well. They were all in a terrible shape.

The firefighters concluded that the fire must've been started by the heat lamp, but they are unsure. There is some evidence showing that it was tripped, but it is also likely that Eshales crazy neighbor set it on fire. Her neighbor is one crazy bitch. She thinks that her small, five-pound female dog molested her rooster(when she has huge male dogs), and thinks she's the embodiment of satan.

Anyway. Moving on. My mom enlisted my help in finding the last chicken, Specks. I got a flashlight and we fanned out around the house. We started where we found Shamrock, close to the front of the house. We made a large loop around the house, scanning the brush and trees for the lost rooster.

When we got a bit closer to the coop, I found him leaning against a stump, hidden by a bush. He was the only chicken I really got a good look at.

His plume(butt feathers btw) was gone, just like Shamrock. His rump was also terribly burned, it was raw and bleeding. His face was blackened like the hens, and he had lost a lot of his feathers to the flame. My mother picked him up carefully with the towel and took him to the others.

Based on the terrible condition all the chickens were in, we chose the humane cure to their suffering. One of the firefighters called a vet, and they left. We all went back inside to wait for the vet. Eshale was still crying, Kent was comforting her(my uncle Craig was at work), and I was sitting on the couch reflecting on what just happened.

The vet arrived about ten minutes later, and tried to put the chickens down. But she couldn't find a vein to inject the.....so she decided to take the chickens with her to the office, give them some gas so they don't feel anything, and inject it directly into their hearts. Eshale complied, and that was the last we saw of the chickens. Everyone went back to bet at 4:30.

My aunt is still mourning the loss of the chickens. She told her kids that there was a fire, that much couldn't be hidden, but the chickens ran away. It was better than telling them that they were burned alive.

If Lulu hadn't woken me and Kent up, then the fire most likely would have spread to the house. We lost the chickens, but today we should be thankful for our lives and a roof over our head.

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