Safe Flight, My Hens

Jeff and Heather, Chris, Brittany and their two month old angel Luca came over this evening to take several of my hennies to their new home.

The upkeep of three hen houses and the care of 18 hens and one rooster is a challenge for one person.  Jorge, the ranch hand, has been instructed to no longer help me with any of the animal care.  How unfortunate.

A great part of Jorge's love for his job has been working with the animals.  He told me he is uncomfortable with this new directive as he recognizes the labor involved for one person.  He said he was sad about it because he misses the interaction with the animals and the variety in his day, making it anything but routine.

It does tug at my heart to see him drive by the animals and not stop and do some of the things he used to do.  He actually looks the other direction.  He is fighting his instinct as he is a natural caregiver.  The animals do not understand his distance.  They grew fond of him, his kindness and his gentle ways.  The goats used to get daily rides in the golf cart.  Now it's as if he shuns them, but I know it is not so.

The time has come to ease my load a bit.

Juliet, Ruby, Blanca, and Zorra, four of my new baby hens, were put in the poultry crate along with Dumpling and Black, two of my one year old hens.

Dumpling has been like a mother hen to the babies.  She has been showing them around the ranch and the places to find bugs, take a dirt bath and where there is protection and shade for a nap.   When they scratch up by the grasses at the canal, she is always with them.  Black is a very docile Black Australorp who ruffles no feathers.  They will be a harmonious flock.

Chris and Jeff are biologists for the Wildlife Services.  I met Jeff when he answered my call for help in investigating what was killing my ducks.  He's smart.

Jeff had mentioned he was setting up his new chicken coop.  As you may imagine, it is entirely secure and predator proof.  When I made the decision to re-home a few of my hens, he was the first person who came to mind.  Jeff had his flock established already but Chris was just beginning his.

As sad as it was to hand over my hand-raised babies and grown girls, there was a sense of relief.  A touch of relief in my daily chore load; a greater relief that my girls were alive when I said good bye.  It doesn't always work that way on the ranch.

Joy to the World

I'm a pretty regular looker of craigslist these days keeping an eye out for smoking deals on ranch necessities. One could interpret that as looking for another horse.

Lately I've been looking at the "Wanted" section. I never knew this section existed. But you know what they say, one person's no longer needed is another's treasure.

There I found an extremely well written posting by this woman asking for any returnables: bottles and cans. She explained that her husband had lost his job, at no fault of his own, and this was the first time that they may not be able to make their mortgage payment. They have children and are struggling to make ends meet.

I told Larry about this posting and reminded him about his healthy growing collection of bags of returnables, a collection he improves upon daily. He organizes the bags by product, counts them out 50 per bag and even writes "50" on the outside. We decided this family could really benefit from his organizational talent.

Katie called me back and we made arrangements to drive the bags to her house that evening. The back of the pick up truck was full, full, of bulging bags, not really like Santa's sleigh but you could stretch your imagination.

The tall Ponderosa pine in front of Katie's house was thoughtfully strung with lights, probably the same as years before, like nothing was different. Their picture window was decorated in children's art work, reminding us to hope and dream.

Out came Katie, expecting another child, carrying a little bag of her own.

We stacked 12 bags of returnables in front of her garage. She thanked us endlessly and gave me the little bag. "Merry Christmas!" she said.

Katie baked us cookies, gave us a bottle of her home-made strawberry jam bottled just last month, and included a hand-made card that read JOY.

This is the perfect Christmas gift.