Counting chickens

30 April 2011, last updated at 23: 56 GMT nine by Dan Smalley chicken houses the storm that left at least 340 dead devastated destroyed by the storm on his destructive path across the southern us this week, also Alabama's important poultry industry, as the BBC's Daniel Nasaw of Red Hill reports.

The baby chicks huddled together outside their ruined home, immersing their beaks in a puddle of water and pick feed shed above the ground.

It was one of the Dan Smalley, which has one of the largest poultry farms in the State of Alabama. But on Saturday, they were his intended not for the table, but disposal facility.

In Alabama on Wednesday, the storm of the State destroyed $2 billion (£ 1. 43bn) a year birds kill poultry industry, levelling chicken houses, and tap feed from power mills and processing plants.

While most of Mr Smalley chicks survived the storm, he estimates that he will lose around 200 000 birds in the coming days because the storm providing what he needs, tend to them.

"We can care for them not", said Mr Smalley, 62, toured as he the farm in a blue Ford pickup truck. "No power, no water."

Reconstruction before

The storm about 200 Alabama chicken houses destroyed and more than 450 others significantly damaged.

Alabama poultry industry is the third largest in the United States, chickens produce about a billion meat (called broiler chickens) each year, and officials estimate it could be six months to a year before the industry resumes full production.

In general the farmers have not the chickens, but raise them at national seller under the contract.

Dan Smalley runs his farm since 1978

Farms like Mr Smalley take day-old chicks, fatten them a diet of corn and soy meal, and truck making it out, if they are shelving rendered six up eight weeks old in a variety of chicken are products for supermarket, restaurants and fast food franchises.

Mr Smalley birds are sold by Pilgrim's pride, the second largest producer in the United States. If you have ordered chicken for Burger King, Chick-fil-A or KFC in the United States, you can one of his birds have cost.

Although most are Alabama farmers not financially from the loss of the animals suffering, they need to rebuild the chicken houses and feed pins and replace destroyed heavy Kit.

Insurance companies are expected to much to cover the losses.

Be repaired in the meantime of damaged hatcheries must and a processing plant and feed mill must be brought back online.

It takes 20-25 weeks for new hens to tires, and three weeks for the eggs to hatch breeder.

Twisted metal

Mr Smalley acre farm, which he has since 1978, is located in a quiet, narrow Green Valley about 40 miles (65 km) from the nearest town.

In one the warm air the last afternoon smelt of strong chicken feces and soil and virtually every structure and vehicle on the farm was covered dirty one collective area of chicken down through the storm white sprinkled.

Twisted Metal from the roofs of chicken were scattered over a field such as old leaves of the newspaper.

Nine of his 15 chicken houses - long, simple, who spend most of their short life scales in the more than 20,000 chicks - were destroyed.

Without the ability to feed and water his chickens and transport to processing establishments must Mr put it down Smalley, he says.

"they are what let me life all these years," Mr Smalley said a corpulent man with a thick, syrupy southern, stretched.

"We take it as best we can." "But we make no money for a while, not looks like."

'Used to adversity'

Neighbors stopped by their support offering, but Mr Smalley told them he was not ready, a displayed.

He said he had to wait, until the insurance company to decide, which houses he had to tear down and which could be rebuilt.

"We are still in the chicken business," he said. "But to what extent, I don't know."

Guy Hall, poultry Director of the Alabama Farmers Federation, predicted that most chicken farmers insurance cash and would get back to work.

He said "In the past are adversity,". "Most farmers used to deal with the weather."

"they are operated outages and winds, ripping things." They are only elastic people, and they are used to work 365 days a year. "If you have livestock, she have to be checked every day."

View the original article here