Of small creatures with big spirits
Posted on May 8, 2012 by FoBaM-Jamie
This past winter, I came home from a poultry show with a day old chick who had deformed feet. Webbed toes in a chick is a genetic abnormality that you don’t want perpetuated in a flock. As this little chick was a rare breed, no one would have wanted to keep it.
Put that on top of the fact that her feet were so gnarled and curled that as she grew larger, there was no way she would be able to hold up her body weight and it was pretty clear that the best thing to do would to have been to put her down.
But, as I saw this incredibly small little ball of fluff just trying to make do with what she was given in life, I made the decision to try and help her.
We are not new to orthopedic problems in our house. When I was young, I was hit by a car while on a bike. The damage, which only became more apparent as I tried to continue in high school and college sports, required over twenty-two operations throughout my life to fix. I had to relearn how to walk and have adjusted to living life with a certain amount of daily nagging pain.
The philosophy in our house is to fight on and power through. If you want something bad enough and work hard enough, you’ll usually get what you want.
And then there was my teen son who as a result of undiagnosed Lyme Disease had arthritis severe enough to curl his fingers and shuffle his steps. It was inconceivable that he would ever think I’d give up either on him or on a baby chick who through no fault of her own, started off – literally – on the wrong foot. After pleading with the breeder to give me the chick, I took her home and another son and I performed the delicate surgery needed to release her toes.
Charlie (named after the Chocolate Factory because her eggs will be a dark brown making them look much like chocolate eggs) not only survived the surgery, she has thrived. She has lived in our house since January and has become a mascot of sorts for our family – “the little chicken that could.” Although she is certainly old enough at this point to join the others in our backyard flock, we’ve all become rather accustomed to having a chicken in our house.
Charlie makes us laugh. She has a distinct personality and knows what she wants. She watches TV with the kids, sleeps with our Maltese dog, and nests in a box near my writing desk – keeping me company while I work. It’s not that unusual to hear someone off in another room talking to Charlie – “Who’s a good girl?”
I suppose at some point, our little house chicken is going to have to transition out to the hen house (having a chicken in the house means constantly cleaning up after her) but for now we accept her in our home as a valued member of our flock – a constant reminder to us all that if we work hard, we can overcome.
Wendy Thomas is an award winning journalist, columnist, and blogger who believes that taking challenges in life will always lead to goodness. She is the mother of 6 funny and creative kids and it is her goal to teach them through stories and lessons. Wendy’s current project involves writing about her family’s experiences with chickens (yes, chickens).
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Every January the headlines at the checkout counter start shouting about losing weight, cutting carbs, flattening our abs, and tightening our glutes. Though we may start the New Year full of good intentions about taking better care of ourselves, too often Real Life comes in and kicks them out the window. Before we know what’s happened, we’re back into our regular groove of over-scheduled days and overflowing to do lists … leaving no time, energy, or funds for mommy’s fitness program.
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