Wallowa chicken processor suffers losses due to hailstorm

Published 12:00 pm Sunday, August 14, 2022

WALLOWA — Mary Hawkins was outside washing crates when she noticed a storm building up on the horizon.

“When the hail started I was like, almost giggly, like ‘Ha ha, it’s hailing. I’m gonna hop inside,’” said Hawkins, who owns Hawkins Sisters Ranch with her sister, Nora.

Within moments her decision proved to be correct as one of the worst hailstorms in modern Wallowa County history descended on her chicken processing facility on Bear Creek Road.

Hawkins said the outside work at the processing facility was over by the time the storm hit and much of her stock of chickens was under cover. Still, she had several hundred chickens outside under the deluge of hail. About 300 of her Cornish Cross chickens were out in a pasture.

The chickens, said Hawkins, tend to sit and wait out inclement weather.

“If anything, they pile up a little bit,” she said.

When the storm passed, Hawkins and her employees immediately went into damage control mode. Hawkins checked her horses and vehicles and equipment and then trotted out to the pasture. What she saw was carnage.

Hundreds of dead chickens littered the field. Many of the chickens were grouped together where they died as the hail hammered them.

“In addition to getting crushed by the ice, they probably got smacked, smothered by one another,” Hawkins said.

As she stared at the field littered with dead chickens she said “my first reaction was to just turn around and walk away.”

Over the next hour, said Hawkins, many other chickens died from the injuries suffered by the hail.

Some, though, she thought might be dead were up and about.

“Half of them is up and fluffy again,” she said.

Still, by the end of the day Hawkins said she composted 150 dead chickens.

As Hawkins and her employees began to clean up — clearing broken glass and other debris — she slowly began to take stock. She realized the hailstorm meant a significant financial loss to her business.

The dead chickens were no longer viable products for sale, she said.

“Can’t process them. There is just no way to dress them out and get them cold. The body condition would be grotesque, and they were laying out in the field for two hours. They’re not really edible,” Hawkins said.

Most of the chickens, she said, were “nearly finished.”

“I have several thousand dollars into those chicks and their feed. I like to raise them until they dress out at a 4-pound average,” Hawkins said.

The image of a field covered in dead chickens still lingers for Hawkins.

“It’s just the emotion of like, wow. They just got pummeled to death,” she said.

County comes together

Wallowa County residents, businesses and officials began working together in the aftermath of the storm to help those in need.

“That’s one good thing we still have in this country,” said Wallowa County Commissioner Susan Roberts, who grew up on a ranch near Wallowa. “We have a lot of people who come together to help.”

Sheriff Joel Fish said numerous individuals and businesses turned out to help their neighbors.

“People jumped in and stepped up to the plate last night to help people who couldn’t board up windows,” Fish said Friday, Aug. 12. “There were so many people helping, I can’t tell you who all helped and did things.”

In a press release Aug. 12, Fish said the sheriff’s office, Enterprise Police, Lostine Fire, medics and the Oregon State Police all responded, as did members of the Wallowa Volunteer Fire Department.

Fish also said, “Private citizens responded with tarps and other items. Citizens went around to their neighbors helping to clean up and board up homes. … It was a real testament to the resiliency of the citizens of the city of Wallowa and Wallowa County. I commend you all.”

A meal site also had been set up at the Wallowa Senior Center, said Paul Karvoski, county emergency services director.

Residents were active all over town on Aug. 12, cleaning up the mess the storm created. Leaves and branches littered yards and streets, and people were just trying to get back to normal.

Fish and Mayor Gary Hulse confirmed Aug. 12 that only four minor injuries were suffered when people were struck by the hail, which reports said ranged from the size of ping pong balls to baseballs.

Hulse declared a state of emergency Aug. 12 for the city, which started the process of obtaining federal or state aid. He said the city attorney was working on the declaration.

Roberts said that although the county doesn’t “have a pile of cash” sitting there waiting for such emergencies, the county will help.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and the Oregon Office of Emergency Management are aware of the storm damage.

“The state has not received a request for a state declaration from Wallowa at this time,” Brown spokesperson Charles Boyle said Aug. 13.