A Chicken Called Speckles And Others As Well (A Farm Story)

  When I moved onto a farm at the tender age of seven I had no idea that chickens would become one of my favorite animals. When we moved there we came from town and the only animal experience I had was a big white rabbit I owned named Buttercup. She was so big I literally could not hold her. My father had wanted to get a tiny little Dutch rabbit, but in his lack of rabbit expertise a farmer had paired him with a sweet little white bunny that looked perfect at the time but grew into a massive grumpy thing that I kept alive but did not hold much love in my heart for. Other than that I didn't have any friends with animals and had probably maybe ridden a pony at the fall fair. That was it!
  Shortly after we moved to our farm it was my eighth birthday and my mom invited some of the neighbor children who were my new friends. We had twin girls that lived down the road and they had scores of animals. A grumpy pony, many rabbits, a dog, cats, and chickens galore. They had these chickens called Bantams and one of them had just recently had chicks. Bantams are small chickens that lay small eggs but they are smart and cocky and have lots of attitude. The one I loved was a dusky yellow with tiny black specks all over her. At my party they brought her for me and hid her in some hay for me to find, and from that moment on she was all mine and my love of chickens was birthed. She learned to ride on my shoulder and would come when I called her. On many rainy days she spent time in our house. She loved me and I loved her. I named her Speckles.
  From her came a whole slew of other bantams as she was a very good mother who took good care of her babies. Some that I remember were Oriele, Star, Kanga, Roo and there were many more. They each had their own personalities and weird things they did. Kanga had this obsession with dog food and we didn't buy tiny kibbles. We bought the cheap dog food and each piece was a pretty good size but she'd gulp it down. At first we kept it on the back step but we had to move it into our back porch. That did not stop her! Consequently she got to be quite a massive chicken. She also really wanted to live in the house. She got in on more than one occasion. Since she preferred houses to barns for habitation when she decided to have the only offspring she ever produced she nested up in the attic or our garage. She was not the smartest. She got there by climbing a whole series of dusty steps. I kept pretty watchful eyes on all my treasured birds (although I think I had actually given Kanga to my sister) so I tracked her down when I realized she had disappeared. She nested faithfully and produced one baby. Since chickens are not the best flyers (especially rotund ones that eat dog food) and chicks can't fly at all ~ I had to get her and her baby, which we called Roo, down to safety and convince her that the barn was actually a good place for chickens to be. She never really was convinced but somehow Roo survived all her gallivanting and they were a pair for life.
  Another random chicken story that I remember is this. A chicken decided to nest in the hay loft. Chickens are often not very smart and this one was no exception. When her babies were hatched some of them jumped/fell out of the hayloft. I came into the barn to find little dead chicks lying  all around and was devastated. Instead of giving up on them I immediately went into action. I was able to (by giving mouth to mouth) get some of them going again and their mother took over, but there was one that's body was cold! I knew that chicks are pretty hard to kill even after hurtling many feet from a hay loft so I took it inside my house. I got a hot water bottle and a towel. After giving it mouth to mouth and massaging its tiny chest (and praying fervently I might add) I layed it on the towel that had the hot water bottle under it and put it in a box in the dark. It wasn't long before the miracle happened and I heard a tiny peep. My seemingly stone cold dead baby chick was on its feet none the worse for wear and headed back out to mommy! I learned quickly that baby animals needed warmth and darkness to recover from any trauma but often if they had a wound with even a speck of blood they would not last.
  My parents were so kind and would let me keep them in my room for as long as I needed. I had all sorts of little animals I tried to save but my chickens were usually my triumph.
  Where I live now even though we have a big back yard I can't have chickens and I cannot wait for the day I can go to the auction and pick out another bantam. No one will replace Speckles however I know that out there somewhere is a smart sassy banty just waiting for me to come and find her. I will love her and she will love me :) I hope I wont have to wait too much longer.