Bean

... a small black chicken

Every year at Easter time, when my children were young, we got some fertilized eggs from a farmer friend to incubate. One year we got some Banty eggs. Banty's are very small chickens and their eggs are smaller than usual. We had great success in hatching the eggs. On day 21, they began to hatch. One by one, the little black chicks pecked their way out of their shells. It was always an amazing sight to see the miracle of birth. Something you never tire of.

After the chicks hatched, we put them in a big box in the kitchen with a heat lamp overhead. Newspaper and sawdust were placed on the bottom to keep the chicks as dry as possible. We heard non-stop peeping from the chicks. They ran around the box chasing each other, peeping excitedly. After some chicken scratch and a little drink, they gathered in a corner of the box in a big huddle. Feather to feather, on top of each other with no space to spare. The peeping would settle down and they would doze off for a bit.

When the weather was warm enough for the chicks to be outdoors, we put them in a large wired cage to slowly get used to the cooler temperatures. The heat lamp continued to be a comfort to the growing chicks. It wasn't long before the chicks grew enough to venture out in the yard. We noticed one of the chicks growing a comb on its head. We had a rooster! We named him BEAN.

Bean had a personality all his own. He pranced around the yard like he owned the place. He had beautiful black feathers with green, red and gold colored feathers intertwined. His red comb complimented his look. He was handsome all right. He knew it, and the hens knew it! We did not have a chicken house. The chickens roamed the back yard and pretty much stayed there. Bean had a favorite place to perch and rest... on the kitchen window sill that overlooked the front porch. He was a funny thing to watch. He would fly up to the window sill, stretch his neck as far as he could, cock his head from side to side, and crow his little heart out. It started out as a half-cockeyed sound of a crow, but he practiced his crowing skills until he got it right. So now Bean had all the rights of waking, not only the hens up, but the neighborhood up as well. I wonder what our neighbors thought... we were in city limits after all!

One day, we woke up to... no cock-a-doodle-do sound from Bean. Where was Bean? We couldn't find him anywhere in the yard. We were so sad. We missed him. 

A day went by, a few days, a week, two weeks. No sign of Bean. It was getting to be late summer; close to county Fair days. One particular day, the kids went to Willow Park to see the animals, play in the water, and on the playground. The park was located across main street, about five blocks west of our house. The fair grounds were just to the north, adjacent Willow Park. As the kids made their way back home after their day of play, they walked past some outbuildings on the fair grounds. The last building was a wood barn, painted green. Low and behold, there in the corner of the barn, happily pecking the ground for seed, was Bean. BEAN! How could that be? He had wandered away from home and even crossed busy main street. He had been gone two weeks, and we had worried about him this whole time. But Bean had no worries. He had found a chicken's paradise... the Fair grounds! What better place to be with all the abundant shade, buildings, trees, grass, endless water and food. Bean had made his way to the Fair! 

Of course, the kids were more than delighted to scoop Bean up in their arms and carry him back home... 

Home to sit in the window sill, practice his crowing skills, and watch over his brood of hens! Bean never ventured from home after that.

writing prompt: An Easter Memory