SHOCKED cockerels have been left homeless after their coops were crushed by a fallen tree during Storm Eunice.
The distraught owner of Big Red Rooster Cockerel Rescue Centre near Swindon, Helen Cooper, feared the worst when the tall timber trapped Mini and Steve Harrington in their home on Friday morning but she managed to free them - and get Lightening down to safety after the blast propelled him into a tree.
Lightening's hen partner Diane went missing, presumed dead, and the normally-feisty cockerel went quiet and calm in what Helen saw as a preiod of mourning.
In a stroke of cluck, Diane reappeared safe and sound at dusk and reunited with her lover, who danced and clucked happily when he saw her.
But with Lightening and Diane now temporarily living in her kitchen and Mini and Steve in her office, Helen is assessing the costs of the damage and wants to raise £3,000 to replace the wrecked structures and get them back in safe and secure homes.
She said: "I arrived here to scenes of devastation - a tree had obliterated two houses into firewood and badly damaged two others.
"It's a miracle we didn't lose any of the birds, it could have been a lot worse. The birds in the smashed houses were all shaken up, and Lightening had a few cuts to his comb but he's okay now.
"When I couldn't find Diane, I thought she had been crushed in the wreckage or eaten by a fox after escaping. I was over the moon when she came back.
"The centre has a small and loyal following, people have been so kind with offers of help."
Helen lives in Swindon and set up the UK's first cockerel rescue centre in Hannington in 2015, which now looks after around 200 birds. Most are boys, often arriving in groups of two or three, though the solo roosters are paired with hens to stop them being lonely.
With support from her sister Louise, the 49-year-old has helped to rehome hundreds of cockerels over the years, though many stay there for the rest of their lives.
She decided to launch the niche service after an unpleasant experience with another animal owner.
Helen added: "This person was hatching hundreds of chicks to sell and around half were boys, which people did not want, so those were killed in an unpleasant way.
"One of the birds on the list to be killed was a real favourite of mine, so I brought him home to live with the 10 chickens I already owned.
"I tried to find him a new home but there was no such thing as a cockerel rescue centre in the UK - there were farm rescues and general poultry but nothing that specific, so I started my own.
"It's an expensive business and it's non-stop, I'm getting calls and messages every day. I'm at capacity now but if I can't re-home them myself I will help in any other way I can, like posting about it or contacting people I know."
Anyone able to help Helen pay for the repairs can use her PayPal at info@bigredrooster.org.uk
Lightening and Diane outside their old home before the storm and (below) staying at temporary accommodation inside Helen Cooper's kitchen
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