Chickens

We have had a couple of experiences with chickens lately. Last Friday was our grandson's kindergarten program. They did the chicken dance and when it was over, each kindergartener asked a guest to do the chicken dance with them. Well, Dax asked me and I was thrilled. The song that you are hearing is the very song that Dax and I danced too. We made pretty good chickens if I do say so myself, with wiggling our arms and hips, it was a real work-out! The next day we went to IFA for some seed potatoes and we saw these little chicks. They are hungry little things aren't they? The only problem with them is they grow up to be chickens and aren't as cute as they are as chicks.

The above are turkeys. Yes, you can raise turkeys for that delicious turkey dinner in November. I personally wouldn't want to raise one, but I guess some do.

Now this little fellow is a duck. When I showed this picture to East, he said, "my dad shoots ducks." Which is true, during duck season. Hopefully, this little one will go to a good home.

Now for my story. It is a true story, yes, every word of it! When Kim and Brett were young Nick decided we should buy some little chicks that would grow up to be laying hens. This would be a good project for them and teach them to take care of animals. (BTW, we already had a dog and a cat, but who am I to question the wisdom of a wanna be farmer). Anyway, we had 10 little chicks in the basement, yes, I said the basement, under lights because they can't get cold. When they started to grow white feathers, it was time to put them outside. Nick cut a small hole in the side of our shed and put chicken wire around so the chickens could get fresh air. We waited and waited, but no eggs. I felt like Lucy and Ethel on the I Love Lucy episode where they have laying hens. One day, Brett and one of his friends went out in the shed and found two shirt fulls of eggs hidden all over the shed. I guess it would have helped if the chickens had a roosting place to lay their eggs, but alas, we were new to this. Next, one of the chickens was actually a rooster. A mean, mean rooster. Everytime Kim and Brett went out to feed the chickens, the rooster would come at them. They told Nick and so being the wonderful, patient father he is, went out to show them how to deal with the rooster. He opened the door, stepped in and the rooster attacked. Well, Nick picked up that rooster and dropped kicked it. It hit the wall, fell and broke his leg. We certainly had a humble rooster after that. The chicken experiment didn't last long because one by one the chickens were disappearing and we couldn't find out why until one day Nick saw the neighbors cat eating one! That did it. We abruptly got out of the chicken business, much to the relief of Kim and Brett. So, folks, that is our experience with chickens. So as Nick and I looked and thought how cute those little chicks were at IFA, we were not tempted at all to buy any! Thank goodness!