I first met Hedy while visiting my female parent in Colorado : The little spring chick huddle with other dame in a composition board box seat at the post business office at 6 a.m. With a few other fluffy xanthous snort bravely “ peep - cheep - cheeping ” their room into that first week of their lives , the postmaster give my mom the straight rivulet of fancies she had buy from a hatchery in Ohio .
I could n’t tell you which one was Hedy then , frankly . She probably had a petite tussock of feathers atop her little nous , like a good Polish should . All the chicks were easygoing , warm and , literally , stinking adorable , surviving the slip from Ohio to the Rocky Mountain State .
Back at my mom ’s place , we carefully invest the chicks in a great metallic element washtub filled with bedding , with a heat lamp off to one side . A scummy sports stadium of chicken starter and a watering container , although start out pristine , were a mess within minutes . Leigh Mackenzie
Chicken Haul
By late evenfall , dear Hedy and her boxmates were still growing and had been accepted into my mother ’s much larger good deal of 30 . Hedy survived this transition and was becoming the beautiful unseasoned Gallus gallus she was born to be . As I drove in from Illinois with my family for Thanksgiving , my mum predict and asked whether we would consider taking home some of her poulet . After consult with my married man , we jumped at the fortune . It seemed Hedy would head back to Illinois . Driving five chickens , two minor , two parent and a teacup poodle dog over four country lines in 15 60 minutes , we made it home before midnight .
Backyard chicken are just beginning to catch on in our area . Most multitude here have never seen the exotic breeds like our Polish and are fascinated by our flock . Hedy , being a very tame Buff Polish “ with funny hair , ” as many kids call her headdress , is always someone ’s “ first hold ” in chickendom . While she is closer to the bottom of the troop pecking orderliness , she is the high attending - getter among humans . Everyone sleep together Hedy , and she has been feature in many selfies and social - media posts with her new human friends .
Last spring , we supply three hens to our existing five . They have been a wonderful addition , but the pecking edict has been turned upside down . Hedy used to be somewhere in the middle with her old babe , but now she ’s at the bottom with the improver of the new .
Leigh Mackenzie
Fowl Friends & Foul Weather
Living beside the Mississippi River , we have an enormous variety of birds of fair game , including bald eagles , prairie falcon and reddened - tailed hawks . Lots of honest-to-goodness trees inhabit our area , too , so bird of night love it here as well . Hedy and her flockmates have last multiple air attacks . We always keep an middle on the sky when they are free - rate .
aery assaults are n’t the only severity for our flock . Weather can be unpredictable , too . Winter that first year was snowy and icy across much of the Midwest . Our backyard was no exception . But one fond , gay morning , I left the threshold to the coop clear and my miss happily spilled out into the snow .
Watching cautiously and monitor the thou , I went about my day , from time to time checking in to make my regular volaille numeration . Afternoon issue forth , and as I counted my girls , one was missing . It was Hedy . I made a warm search of the chiliad to no service . My Logos conjoin the search , and we begin to scour our property .
We eventually saw high-priced Hedy on her back on the frozen stones between some terrace furniture that had been set on its side to weather the wintertime . With superhuman strength , my Logos rend away the heavy furniture , and I get together Hedy into my blazon .
My boy began to sob , thinking his pet girl was beat . We had no idea how long she had been there . She was listless and cold-blooded . We brought her into the house and nursed her back to health with warm blankets and a water - filled eye dropper . Her tail feather from then on were crook , off to one side a little . But she did find . In fact , it gave her even more personality to go with her stunner . Leigh Mackenzie
A Rough Molt
Molting meter for my flock is dire . The ladies look pathetic , feathers drooping and fall off so much it search like a down pillow detonate in the cage . They resemble children who have taken scissors to their own hair without their mummy knowing it . I have read that it can be a irritating procedure to regrow pinfeathers , and my girl get easily agitated with one another .
During one molt , Hedy , with her majestic bouffant atop her headspring , had some real consequence . I guess it was a rough day in the coop because I detect her with blood running down her snout and one heart sealed shut . Her pinfeathers had been broken off and part of her pecker had been peck . The claw on her right foot had also been free and was bleeding . Once again , we carefully nursed her back to health . Sweet Hedy was now unreasoning in her remaining eye , but she did relearn to walk , high-pitched step with her left foot in a somewhat mirthful way as she regained her rest and perspective .
Watching Hedy ill-treat away bravely in spite of what she has lose gives me pause to guess about my own life history . Not only has Hedy lost her original home and flock but also her position within ours . Physically , she no longer has her square stern plumage , full eyesight , a toenail or even the power to walk normally . However , she still walks about the yard , friendly to all , oral sex held high . She know that no matter what the other chickens remember of her , she is still her master ’s dearie . To me , she remains the beautiful razzing she was hold to be .
Leigh Mackenzie
This tale originally appeared in the January / February 2018 issue ofChickensmagazine .
Leigh Mackenzie
