It was an eventful weekend,
all centering on the chickens and their habitat. To begin with, Margaret, our
oldest and tamest hen, got sick. Normally, when Dennis opens up the hen house
in the morning, Margaret follows him outside, waits for him to open the gate,
marches into the chicken yard, and starts eating the kitchen scraps Dennis
dumps on the ground. Meanwhile, all the
other hens are waiting for Dennis to open their little door, but Margaret has
already eaten the choicest offerings.
Saturday, however, Margaret
did not follow her normal routine, but stayed in the chicken house, not only
when Dennis opened the door, but also all day long, huddled on the roost. When
Dennis looked her over he found that her comb was turning black – not a sign of
health in a chicken. Sunday she stayed in as well, but crouched on the floor.
Sunday, yesterday, was also
the day a powerful cold front moved through, blowing like the dickens out of
the north. When Dennis and I went to buy some groceries I had to hold onto his
arm as we crossed the parking lot, lest the wind blow me over. (Dennis is far
sturdier of this union.)
Back home I looked out the
kitchen window and noticed that a walnut tree had blown down in the chicken
yard, taking with it a large branch of an adjacent tree, and squashing the
twelve-foot-high fence.
At times like this we call
on Pam the Intrepid, who owns a chain saw and knows how to use it. Evening was
upon us, so it was too late to remedy the situation, but Pam promised to come
this morning.
It took Pam and Dennis just
one hour to clean up the mess. First, Pam cut the branches hanging over the
fence. Dennis loaded the cut pieces into the wheelbarrow and trundled them to
the wood pile.
Then Pam went inside the
chicken yard to cut up the main trunk.
While she cut up the trunk,
Dennis set to repairing the fence.
He had to patch the wire
and reattach it to the fence post.
At the end, the fence was repaired and there was a
heap of new seasoned fire wood to be split.
As well as a large pile of
kindling for fire starting.
All did not end well. I’m sorry to report that
Margaret passed away overnight. We will miss her.
Copyright 2015 by Shirley Domer
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