(680) "Talking birds"

If I were born five hundred years ago, I would have been the tribal story woman. you know, the one who would absorb stories or history from hundreds of years ago since she was old enough to sit at her grandma's feet.

 
Twenty years ago, my husband relocated us from a city to a small town. Five years ago my family moved in the reverse direction and now reside in the noisy, polluted and busy city again. It was the intervening years that brought us so much happy memories. We had the privilege of living in big houses with much land. The space allowed Keziah to have her talking birds (as in Narnia).

 
Our chicken saga begun with two hens: Black chicken and Hatchin'. They were what we 'inherited" from the previous tenants. Chickens are social creatures that live in a community with well ordered structure. Black chicken had strong character and could stand her ground with a Rotweiler puppy. Most of the time, she ruled the roost. However, when Hatchin' decided to hatch, even Black chicken would give way or be pecked.

 
Earlier I narrated how God graciously answered Keziah's prayer to save Chickadee from certain death after she was swept into a drain due to a sudden rain storm. She was our hot favourite. When we called her, she would come running like a puppy. She would come right next to my feet when I dig worms. She was not afraid of my caresses and was quite docile when I caught hold of her. And so you see she was round and plump, for we favour her with the best scraps.

 
Contrary to popular belief, chickens are very intelligent. Normally they would roost atop tree branches at sunset. However, they learned that if our car was out we would come back with table scraps. Therefore they delayed roosting and waited for extra food given to them way after dark.

 
Our chicken population started with substituting Hatchin's eggs with four fertilised ones purchased from a neighbour. Hatchin' refused to budge from her chosen nest site. We had to construct a lean-to with waste pieces of wooden boards. Two chicks emerged. Michael chose the gray one and called it Swanny. It turned out into a dainty female. Keziah claimed the off white one and named it Snow White. Ha! Snow White grew into a virile male with loud crowing. We only kept him long enough to father the next brood.

 
At the peak population, we had nineteen(cock, hens, chicks and 'teenagers') We used to sell eggs to our neighbours. So you see, we had a whale of a time with our birds. All the money in the world could not have bought Keziah a better childhood.

* chicken.jpg from world-agriculture.com