True stories of a small flock of remarkable individuals -- and other critters.



Friday, February 11, 2011

KIDS AND CHICKENS


Every kid...so totally unique.
Abby, here, passionately embraces Nature.
From the tiniest, creepiest --


-- to the hugest enormousest.


In my back yard, Abby has her own personal mission:
to rearrange the chickens.
Pigeon goes here...


Not sure where Lil'White should go...


Because she's speedy and deliberate, Abby's the only one of us who's able to catch fleet-footed Daisy.
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George, however, is so patient that Daisy steps right onto his hand.


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At my friend Trish's house, while she and I chatted on the lawn, 


her son Chris perched a rooster on his head and ran loops around the yard. 


Chris is a teenager now, and will be horrified to read this, but...  sorry, Chris -- that joyous image is forever etched in my memory.
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Lil'White has been Sarah's favorite from the beginning.
Sarah tenderly scoops her up,





and gazes lovingly into those vapid little eyes.
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Amanda came to visit, expressly to meet the chickens.
Pigeon seemed very curious, and followed Amanda all around.
So Amanda stopped and offered Pigeon some grass.  The two of them had a long, long conversation....


I wonder if it was Amanda's polka-dotty swimsuit that intrigued Pigeon so... 




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I've been doing some chicken-talks lately, and have come to look forward to chatting with the older folks at these events.   They're so happy to tell me of their favorite childhood chickens.  One woman told me she dressed hers up in a bonnet and wheeled it around in a baby carriage.   
Another lady innocently explained how she and her siblings made pull-toys out of their beloved hens:  
you just tie a string around a bit of bread, and then feed it....

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