McKinstry Moments: Gertie the chicken

A couple years ago, my mom got a few peeps for Easter. We all enjoyed watching the chicks grown into beautiful chickens, and Courtney, Dad, and I bought Mom a coop for Mother's Day to keep them in.

That summer was not a good one for those feathered creatures though. When Mom left them out one day to run about the yard, she came home to find that something had gobbled them up. Bear, fox, hawks? We weren't sure.

Last year, Mom got six more chicks, and again they grew into good looking birds. The kids loved going up the hill to watch them.

Those birds didn't fair much better than the first set. A bear came and took out four of them one night, and a month or so later, another bear attack claimed one of the remaining two. Of course, after all that the remaining chicken was traumatized too. Gertie was the name of the lone survivor, and she took to sleeping up in the tree to keep her self safe for quite a while.

Having no other feathered friends to mingle with, Gertie started to become extra people friendly. Just like a cat or a dog, when she saw my mom, here she'd come. Definitely a pet...

Gertie liked the kids too - and they liked her.

Mom got a kick out of Gertie when she'd come sit in the windowsill of the kitchen window. What a beautiful scene! (Good photography, Mom.)

The cat even seemed to like Gertie.

Like a kid on Easter, Mom also got really excited to find eggs once Gertie started laying. That chicken didn't stay up at the coop for that either. Right up near the house and under the bushes you'd find them.

And, when you have farm fresh eggs...you have to make the best of them. Pull out the skillet!

It wasn't fair for Gertie to be a lone ranger though. She needed a buddy. A few people offered to give Mom a few more chickens, but she tried to be careful about getting just any birds. Gertie was already a bit nervous and she didn't want to get any critters that might peck at her or become a bother.

Finally, she did get another one who ended up being named Tunsy. Together they made quite a few of eggs. Gertie had small pretty ones and Tunsy laid larger speckled versions.

My dad had reinforced the chicken coop after the last bear attack and for a long time the birds had lived untouched safely in their home. Then a few months ago, along came a fox! Right underneath the coop he dug...Poor Gertie and Tunsy didn't make it. :(

Despite the loss, the kids still enjoyed coming for visits and riding around the yard with NaNa on the "Chicken Wagon" even though there weren't any chickens to visit.

They liked picking mint along the way.

The especially enjoyed the roller coaster rides NaNa gave them down this hill : (Just look at those faces!)

NaNa didn't go too long without her chickens though. Dad had bought a pile of wood to build a bigger and more predator proof coop a while back, but he never got to it and the wood began to rot from all the snow that fell on it as it laid in the field this past winter. However, one of Mom's friends had some extra wood and wire. He volunteered to build her a new coop and gave her ten chickens. Even better, he gave her two roosters, which she'd hoped for all along but none of her chicks had ever turned out to be one.

She was excited for the kids to come visit and when we finally did, they wasted no time heading up the hill to check out the new birds.

Reid thought they were fun to watch too.

Caleb was the one who really wanted to get in to the cage with the chickens and feed them. He was so excited and giggly as they ran about and tried to peck his hand.

NaNa caught one!

Have a little taste!

Oh no! Hadley's stuffed animal is about to hit the dust.

This was right after he got pecked.

Hadley was a bit more standoffish. She like watching the chickens but didn't want to touch them.

Then they went on a crazy ride of their own after taking notes from NaNa's wild chicken wagon lessons.

We stopped up at Granny's to visit right after going to Mom's and guess what? More chickens! The neighbors birds had made their way into Granny's yard. She wasn't as big of a fan as Mom and the kids are though, especially since they ate her tomato plants while she was out of town. Right back across the fence she chased them.