TRUTHS!

Weeeeell...it's looks like this blog might end up being a "once-a-year" endeavor! If I actually manage to get two or three posts made within the year, we're just gonna call that a success! So, here I sit contemplating life's TRUTHS and there's definitely a few I should mention. My first TRUTH is this...for many, many years, I was TERRIFIED of chickens!!! Hard to believe in a chicken farmer who's afraid of birds, but it's true! My initial bird fears began at the tender age of 3. My family was staying at my Grandmother's farm and it was a family get together with the ENTIRE family in attendance to process chickens- hundreds of them! This was my first experience with birds of any kind. It just so happened, I had an onery Cousin and an onery Uncle who thought it would be hilarious to baptize "the little city girls" (my sisters and I) in chicken blood. SO, while my sister and I sat and watched all the women in our family sitting at a long table out in the barn passing and plucking dead chickens in a conveyer like operation one right after the other, the fellas were outside chopping heads off of the chickens to pass them off to the ladies in the barn. My sister and I (being too young to be in the midst of things) were sent from the barn to go fetch something from my Grandma's house, and as we left the barn, my onery Cousin and Uncle did the deed! They turned the headless chickens loose on my sister and I. It seemed no matter what direction we turned, the headless chickens...blood spirting all over their white feathers...were chasing us. As a little kid, you don't understand the biological and physiological factors involved... you just know you're being chased down by huge, bloody, spastic chickens making weird noises before leaping, landing and dying on top of you! THAT was my 1st bird experience! My next bird experience came when my family and I were visiting family friends out in the country. It was just a day visit, but...all it takes is a few minutes to traumatize a child for life!!! I was 4 years old at this time and I was out in the yard playing with my little country friends. We'd been playing for hours, running through the forested hills and mountain meadows, enjoying the beautiful day, when we decided to head back into the yard next to the house. As we ran playfully toward the house, a strange noise came in from behind us...something was chasing us! As I stopped to turn and see what it was, my little friend screamed, "DON'T STOP!!! HE'LL KILL YOU!!! RUUUUUUUN!!!" The last thing I saw was a huge white bird, wildly flapping it's wings and honking with a scorched sound as though it had been a heavy smoker all it's life. It was their MAD goose, and I don't mean he was upset mad, I mean he was just CRAZY mad- he needed to be committed or roasted! We ran straight for the front door of the house hoping to be saved, but that mean goose was willing to follow us right into the house and he was committed to whacking me to death with his ferocious, mad flapping wings!!!

Needless to say, I survived the mad, killer goose and headless, bloody chickens, but from those two childhood experiences, I developed an irrational fear of birds. I hated birds and THAT was my TRUTH! Then I went off to college and while studying in Animal Husbandry at my favorite Ag College, I ran across a breed of birds that changed my mind about chickens- the French Black Copper Marans. I fell in love with the breed and their BEAUTIFUL, deep, dark brown, burnt sienna eggs! From that moment on, I became a chicken fan and I wanted my own flock of Marans! At the time, French Black Coppers were very rare and not readily available in the United States and flying to France to import a few chickens wasn't a practical choice...especially when I was still a little bit afraid of birds! My next "healing from bird trauma" experience came just a few years ago, when a dear neighbor stopped by and asked if I'd be willing to tend to her birds while she and her family were away from home. In that moment, EVERYTHING changed! Even though I was still a bit apprehensive, I agreed to tend to the chickens, and my neighbors "girls" were a docile lot. They were sweet and easy to take care of, and I began to overcome my irrational fears. That experience led to today, the creation of "Hen Hill" and my beautiful flock of French Black Copper Marans. I FINALLY got my beautiful French birds along with a few other specialty breeds and I fell in love! Now I can look back on moments spent years ago with my Grandmother, hiding behind her as we entered the chicken coop, and I can reminisce fondly about those moments spent with her with the sound of her flock milling around her backyard clucking and trilling away, and at long last, THOSE sweet memories overshadow the bad ones and they bring me peace. I'm so thankful I finally overcame my fear of birds and I'm thankful my backyard is now as full of pretty birds as my Grandmother's was! My TRUTH has changed and I love the change!