Maria and the chickens

Maria had an interesting relationship with the poultry on the farm. There were chicken, ducks and geese - and sometimes even guinea hens.

Maria often had to gather the eggs from the chicken coop - a job she really liked. She would enter the hut and look for eggs in each little nest - sometimes they would still be warm.. She would add them to a basket and bring them to the house. If she did not have a basket, she would gather them in her shirt or dress and hope she didn't fall on the way back to the house.

Maria and her brother Tomas were often asked to feed and water the ducks and chickens. They would enter the large area fenced in with chicken wire with a bucket of feed. They would spread the feed and the birds would surround them pecking at the ground by their feet. They would then fill the water trough. This was a big old sink in the ground and the ducks would sometimes swim in it. If they let the water overflow, it would create rivers in the dirt yard of the pen. Maria and Tomas would build cities around the rivers and play with their toy cars and trucks. All the while the ducks and chickens would wander around looking at the kids playing in their space.

The geese were always mean and aggressive - honking as loud as possible should anyone get near them. Maria was pretty good at avoiding the geese - but Tomas was pecked more than a few times by their sharp beaks.

In the autumn, Maria's father would slaughter the chickens for food. Maria understood this and was always there to watch. Every time a chicken had it's head cut off, the body would still be alive and would run around the yard in unpredictable frenzy. Maria would run away and scream - always sure the headless chickens were chasing her - which of course they were not. She did this every time...

Maria loved to watch the guinea hens. She thought they were so exotic looking. Here is what they look like:

Maria's favorite thing though was when the baby ducks and chicks would hatch in the spring. The eggs were kept in an incubator and the family would watch them hatch. It was so amazing to watch the little beaks peck a hole in the eggshell and watch them slowly emerge from the shell, damp and shaky. Maria loved the sound of the peeps and chirps and holding the fuzzy yellow chicks and the soft brown and yellow baby ducks.