Chickens and childhood

Three Mondays ago a small incubator arrived in Mars' classroom at school containing ten chicken eggs and a temperature gauge. The next morning the teachers were a little nervous because the temperature inside the incubator seemed a little low, as if there had been a power outage during the night. Later that same day the weather was hot and so too was the incubator. So on Wednesday morning when about half the eggs were showing cracks the sense of relief in the classroom was palpable.

On Thursday when the kids got to school there were six chickens hatched and four more made their big break later in the day, so by Friday the preps were ten for ten and everyone was happy.

The following week the chickens were allowed out each day to run around in a huge cardboard tray the size of a big fridge, and the children were allowed to pick them up and hold them. From what I understand the children and the chickens were very well behaved, for the most part.

Watching this whole experience brought back memories for me. My younger brother's class also hatched chickens while he was in primary school and when it was time for them to return to the farm or find a good home, he was able to bring one home to our house as our Grandparents actually kept chickens in their backyard and could easily accommodate one more.

The chicken came home and her name was Mikey. My brother wouldn't be persuaded that she was, in fact, a girl chicken, so we all called her Mikey and she didn't seem to mind.

I can't remember how long Mikey stayed at our house, but for a chicken she was quite tame. She would sit on my brother's shoulder and poo down his back.

When the time came for her to go and live with our Nana and Grandpa the wrench was not too great as they only lived a few streets away. Whenever we were there we would all trundle up to the back of the yard and wander around the chicken coop visiting Mikey and her friends.

You know, that chicken lived an extraordinarily long life. I'm sure we were visiting her for the next ten years, or so my Nana would have had us believe. Every time we would go over we would ask Nana which one was Mikey and she would point her out to us.

I suspect there might have been some trickery on her part, but if you met my Nana you would know that she is incapable of guile. So we will just have to content ourselves with the knowledge that Mikey lived a happy and very very long life.

The chickens from Mars' grade have gone to live on a farm now too, and while Mars is a little sad that they won't be around any more, at least he was spared the chicken poo down his back, and that sad kind of moment when you realise that an animal you love has most likely gone to God and that your kind family has been protecting you. I hope that moment won't come to Mars for a while yet.