Yesterday I told you about chicks raining down into the barn aisle and the stalls. I shall pick up where I left off.
I went in the house to eat lunch, and that afternoon saw the chicks happily following mom around. They were all one big, happy family again. I took a few pictures of them and was satisfied with my good deeds for the day.
The next day I was up early as it was Friday, and Gwen the amazing farrier comes every other Friday. It was a beautiful morning to be out with the horses. After everyone had eaten breakfast and all the water troughs were scrubbed and filled and it was time to start preparing for Gwen to arrive. She usually gets to the farm at about 10am and spends the day with us. I was bringing in horses from various pastures and putting them in stalls to await their pedicures.
I was leading the last horse up to the barn right as Gwen arrived. Perfect timing, nothing like having things run like a well oiled machine. Hah! As I was walking up the driveway into the barn I heard the sounds of the day before – lots of loud chirping. Gwen was just getting out of her truck and made the comment that it was awfully loud in the barn. I told her we’d had a new flock of chicks born the day before and they were probably wandering through the barn following mom.
We walked into the barn and there were no chicks in the aisle. With dread I looked up and saw the exact same thing from the day before, chicks lined up at the edge of the loft wondering where mom was. I stood there and said “That *&^I!@#% hen somehow managed to get those chicks back up in the loft. Today it is HER PROBLEM!”
I pull Leo out of a stall and Gwen proceeds to start working on him as the chirping gets louder and louder and louder. The noise volume literally doubled . . . because the hen and chicks from yesterday’s fiasco came wandering into the barn. Holy crap was the first thought that went through my head, another stupid hen hatched chicks up in the loft and then left to get food and water. I couldn’t believe it was happening with a second batch of chicks a second day in a row!!
As I fully digested the situation an innocent Jason came wandering into the barn to help.
Me: Jason, there’s another flock of chicks in the loft and they are getting ready to JUMP!!!
Jason: Stop shrieking
Me: I’M NOT SHRIEKING
Jason: Yes you are
Chicks: First suicide jumper made the leap to the aisle. He survived. I chased him around the aisle and finally cornered and caught him. I placed him in the stall Leo had just vacated. My life became a bad remake of the movie Groundhog Day as remaining chicks in loft start running amok and leaping into stalls and into the aisle.
Me: Frantically chasing chicks everywhere and trying to keep up with where they are leaping. “Jason, don’t just stand there, DO SOMETHING! HELP ME!”
Gwen: In a laughing voice. “Yeah, my husband always responds well when I tell him to DO SOMETHING!”
Jason: They’ll work it out, just calm down
Me: Racing around in the stalls cornering chicks as the horses blessedly avoid stepping on them. I’m starting to get teared up again as I plead with Jason to help me catch the chicks in the aisle before they exit the barn and get completely lost and disoriented.
Jason: Desperate to avoid tears he begins attempting to round up chicks. We deposit chicks into the empty stall. Jason scoops up the last two chicks and has a chick in each hand. He is heading to the stall to place them with their siblings.
Me: Wait! Wait! I have to take a picture of you with the chicks.
Jason: Impatiently waiting for me to grab the camera. “One of these chicks just s**t in my hand!”
Gwen: At this point was laughing way to hard to continue trimming the horse
I manage to snap a couple of pictures as Jason complains loudly about the chick poo in his hand. He deposits the chicks in the stall and just like the day before I herded an ungrateful mommy hen to the stall and reunite her with her chicks. Just another day on the retirement farm.
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