Snatch a Snack

While the oldest four were in Illinois for the Baptism, Thomas had to assume the big-kid responsibilities of the house. This included, but certainly wasn't limited to taking care of the chickens. Although, in as of itself, this isn't a dreadful task nor a hard one, it wasn't the easiest on Thomas simply because of unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances.

As you all know, we got chickens. Originally, we started out with ten. And yup, you guessed it; the number has shrunk since getting them. The first one died because it was sick. We think if was from heat exhaustion. Poor Marie. She felt awful, but there was nothing she could do.

So that was poor chicken number one. Now we jump a head a couple of months to the 4 of July weekend. Thomas was in charge of the chickens. Since we don't have a proper coop yet - though we are in the process of building one - every morning we take all the chickens out of the bin in the shop and put them in their cage outside so they can eat the bugs in our yard.

Inside both the bin and the cage we have various object available for them to climb and perch on. One of these said objects happens to be a cement block. As Thomas was reorienting the contents of the cage he picked up one of the cement blocks. While holding it in mid air, he lost his balance causing the block to slip from his hands and land back in the pan. The good thing was that the block was cushioned. The bad thing was the chicken was the cushion.

Poor Thomas! He felt awful. Here he was, dutifully trying to take care of his older sister's chickens and he accidentally killed one! Thankfully, and surprisingly, it wasn't very messy; we'll just say the chicken took up less space than it used to.

So, Dad consoled Thomas and they soon took care of the chicken. Everything was fine now. Thomas went back out to finish taking care of the the chickens, only to come running back into the house very upset, saying to Mom, "I think I killed another chicken!" For, in his haste to consult Dad and Mom about the first chicken, he accidentally left the other chickens out and one of the dogs got to one of them.

Be assured that the dog was firmly reproached and Thomas consoled again. Everything turned out fine - or at least, as well as could be expected. We still have seven chickens, so we're looking at the bright side. And there is a perk: perhaps the other dogs saw how bad the naughty dog was censured and maybe they will think twice before trying to snatch a chicken in the future.