The Best Kind of Gift
It’s after midnight on the night before Christmas, and all of the presents are finally wrapped. The kids are asleep, all snug in their beds, with visions of… chickens? dancing in their heads…
It was Thursday today, and so, with the kids being on Christmas vacation, they came with me to the animal shelter for the morning cat-and-rabbit-duty shift. But, there are only two cats and one rabbit there currently! A wave of amazing adoptions has coincided with a lull in surrenders and strays, resulting in the place being largely vacant. Knock on wood.
But there are two feathered friends is residence, Truman the rooster and Lipton the hen. They were found abandoned. They get a lot of chickens that way…
The kids hadn’t met these two, and, they had brought a lot of lettuce for Marvin the rabbit. I did not know that chickens ate lettuce. They do, and Lipton will leap in the air for it.
The kids were excited to see this trick, and so, we were invited to the coop. A sleek, glossy, healthily crowned rooster strutted about and around the kids. The animal control officer opened the coop and announced that Lipton was laying! After awhile, Lipton exited the coop, and, amazingly, there was a perfect egg in the nest!
The kids were very, very excited about this trick. Babygirl was a little afraid of the chickens, but Babyboy marched right up, and (with permission) reached into the nest and carefully lifted out the egg. We marveled that it was still warm. We talked about how this is where all eggs come from. The egg was then gifted to us!
This was a major topic of talk for the rest of the day. We were very thankful for the rather unique experience (though, I suppose, if you have chickens, it’s not that special) and the lessons it taught.
The kids are very proud of their egg, which is sitting in a little bowl in our kitchen.
What are we going to do with it? asked Hubby.
Um, eat it? I guessed.
Yes, the egg will likely end up scrambled in excessive butter for Babyboy’s Christmas breakfast, and that is all good.
Meantime, if anyone local has a big yard, there’s a rooster and a hen looking for a home… The hen lays an egg every day, and the rooster is very handsome!
