Contest12crazypetladysshortstory

[Fuzzybird]

Crazypetlady, are the story's coming to you private?

 

[babymakes6]

YES! PM to her, but also post your story here.
Rachael has not been getting her notifications for the threads, so she hasn't been getting these messages.

 

[namastemama]

​

Here's my entry......
 
 

 
One chilly day James heard the doorbell ring. Expecting something interesting to add to an other wise boring afternoon, he jumped up and rushed after his mom as she answered the door.
 
Waiting on the porch was a brown box. A Package! Packages always meant something interesting and fun! Last time a package was delivered it was a train set from his grandmother who lived in Taiwan!
 
James could hardly contain himself, he thought about all the fun things that could be in the box, a toy truck, candy, maybe a magic lamp with a genie inside?
 
“Oh mom, open it please!” James begged .
 
“ Alright James, lets take it to the kitchen table and we can open it.” Mom smiled.
 
James bounded to the table and jumped on a chair as mom gently set the package on the table. The box was labeled with big red letters that read, F-R-A-G-I-L-E. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but it looked important.
 
Mom carefully opened the box with a pair of scissors. Packing peanuts spilled from the carton as she carefully lifted a carton from the box.
 
“EGGS?!?!?! EGGS!!! Why are you getting eggs in the mail mom? They sell those at the grocery store. “ James exclaimed with surprise trying to hide his disappointment.
 
James could not understand why mom got a box with a carton of eggs in the mail, they had plenty of eggs in the fridge. This afternoon was not going to be as interesting as he thought.
 
“These are special eggs James.” Said mom. “These eggs are going to go into our incubator and after 3 weeks baby chicks will hatch from them.”
 
James wasn’t so sure, “They just look like regular eggs to me” He muttered as he returned to his toy cars on the floor.
 
James tried not to act interested as he watched his mom carefully unwrap each egg from its wrapping, placing each egg carefully in the little yellow incubator.
 
“Mom, those eggs are upside down!” James exclaimed, pointing in the incubator.
 
“When we hatch eggs we put them in the big side up so that the baby chicks can hatch better.” Mom said as she poured a cup of warm water in the incubator.
 
James watched as mom carefully set the incubator on the bookshelf and plugged it in. The incubator made a soft humming noise and it slowly started moving back and forth.  James was not impressed.  There was no way that chickens would come out of those dumb eggs, he had eggs for breakfast lots of times. There was only the white part and the yellow part, he’d never seen a chicken in an egg.
 
Each day James would peer into the incubator as he walked by the bookcase.  The eggs just sat there and did nothing. The incubator rocked them back and forth, dumb old eggs, why couldn’t it have been something neat in that box? Hmmph! Mom was crazy, there were no chickens in those eggs!
 
One morning mom unplugged part of the incubator.
 
“What are you doing mom?” James asked as he looked up from his coloring book.
 
“Its time for Lock Down, the chicks will be born in 3 days.” Smiled mom as she poured more water in the incubator.
 
Lock Down? What the heck was that? James imagined mom putting the eggs on a on a rocket ship to mars where aliens would eat them for breakfast. James giggled as he imagined little green Martians eating Mom’s eggs. 
 
 Mom just smiled at James as he drew aliens  eating  eggs.
 
One snowy morning James awoke to a strange sound. It sounded like a bird in the house.
 
Sleepily he crawled out of his warm bed and followed the sound.
 
Peeep… Peeep. ….peeep!! The sound got louder and louder as James approached the incubator.
 
Peeep…. Peeeep!
 
James peered into the incubator  looking for where the peeping was coming from.  Nope no chickens, bummer! Then he saw an egg move! The little egg rocked back and forth. Then he saw it, a crack in the egg!
 
“MOM!! MOM! MOM!” James wildly flew up the stairs and jumped on his parents bed.
 
“I heard a noise and followed it to the eggs and there is an egg moving and its broken!” James exclaimed.
 
Mom and dad looked at each other and laughed.
 
“It sounds like today is the day for those chicks to be born!” Laughed dad.  “ GO down and watch them, and eventually one will zip right out of those eggs.
 
“Awesome!” Yelled James and he ran back down stairs.
 
All day those little chicks pipped and zipped their way out of the incubator. 
 
Every time a new baby chick was born James reported to his mom.
 
“A black one!”
 
“A grey!”
 
“Another Black!” He called from his position in front of the bookcase. James kept watching that first egg, waiting for a chick to push its way out of the shell. It kept rocking and peeping, but still no chick.
 
Finally all the other eggs had hatch except that first egg.
 
“It looks like we have a quitter.” Mom sighed. “Time to clean out the incubator and put the chicks in the brooder.”
 
“No mom, wait, this one still needs to hatch!” James cried.
 
“ I just don’t think that one was strong enough to make it out James.” Mom said gently. “ Come on its time for bed.”
 
“ Just give it more time mom.” James begged.
 
“Ok, we will give it until morning.”
 
James couldn’t sleep all night. He hoped that little chick made it out of its shell. 
 
That morning  James rushed to the incubator. He was sad when he saw the incubator was empty and not one egg or shell left to be seen.
 
Wiping tears from his eyes he walked into the kitchen.
 
“Good morning James!” Mom sang as she flipped a pancake on the griddle. “ I have a surprise for you! Go look in the brooder.”
 
James wandered over to the plastic container with the red lamp. He heard chirping coming from it and he looked inside.  Fuzzy little baby chicks ran around pecking at the ground .  Then he noticed it, a chick that wasn’t there last night. A tiny fluffy yellow and brown chick.. He could hardly believe his eye! He counted just to make sure, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,  10, 11, 12!  They were all there!
 
“It hatched!” James exclaimed as he gently picked up the tiny chick.
 
“Yes it did.” Dad grinned from behind his newspaper.
 
James held the tinny little ball of fluff to his cheek and smiled. Its was so soft !
“Can this one be mine?” James asked his dad.
 
“Sure why not!” Said dad.  “It will need a name, what will you name it?”
 
“Poco, because it was the last one to hatch. That’s the Spanish word for little.” James smiled proudly
 
“ Poco, hmmm, I like it!  Poco it is.”
 
James grinned as he gently stoked the top of the chicks head.  Those eggs turned out to be the best package to arrive EVER!

Edited by namastemama - 12/12/12 at 10:24pm

 

[babymakes6]

 

[TMNfarm]

Primrose Saves the Day

This is Primrose...

Prim, as we call her, is a 7 month old Buff Orpington hen. A couple of months ago, Prim began sitting in her nest box all day long. Prim was broody!! She wanted to raise baby chicks, so I gave her 6 eggs to sit on. The next day, I noticed that some of her eggs were under another hen named Butterscotch. Butterscotch was broody too, and she was stealing Prim's eggs right out from under her!! I decided to give Butterscotch 6 eggs to sit on too.
Butterscotch and Prim sat on their eggs for 21 days, barely ever getting up, except to eat and drink. Prim was a little better at this than Butterscotch was. Exactly 21 days after I gave Prim her eggs, I went into the building where I had set her up in her own little brooder box, and there was a cute little chick peeking out from under her wing!

By the next day, Prim had 6 cute fuzzy little chicks peeping around her. Prim was a very good Mommy hen, carefully keeping track of each little chick and making sure they didn't wander too far out from under her warm protective feathers.
The following day, I noticed that one of Butterscotch's eggs had pipped. It had a tiny little hole where the baby was poking it's tiny little beak out to breath. I should have left it alone, but I was so curious that I picked it up and made the hole just the tiniest bit bigger. When I put the egg back under Butterscotch, she stepped on it and crushed the egg!!! Oh no!!!! Now what should I do?? I picked away a bit more shell, but the baby had not absorbed its veins yet. She wasn't ready to be born, so I put her back with Butterscotch and went into the barn to do chores. When I got back, I checked the egg again, and the chick seemed to be struggling. I knew that she might die, but I had to help her get out of her shell. I picked away as much shell as I dared, then when she was almost out, I put her back down with Butterscotch. But instead of taking the chick under her to keep her warm, she attacked her instead!!! I quickly picked the chick back up, and it was clear that she was in trouble. She was getting cold and seemed so weak. I didn't have an incubator to put her in, and I knew there was no way I could keep her warm enough. I was certain I had just caused her death...
I carried the chick over to Prim's brooder, where she was happily tending to her 2 day old chicks. With tears in my eyes, I asked her, "Primmy, can you save the chick?" I carefully placed the chick on the floor of her brooder in front of her. Prim looked at the chick and gently pushed her with her beak. Then she stood up and placed her body over the chick and oh so carefully settled herself down. For a few minutes, she kept her own chicks out from under her, then slowly began to let them back into her snuggly warm feathers. I told my son that there was nothing more we could do, and that if anyone could save this chick, it would be Prim. We left the building and went in for the night.
I could hardly sleep all night. I kept envisioning finding a poor, cold, dead chick in the morning. I headed out to the barn earlier than normal, and there was Prim, sitting in her brooder as usual. I leaned over and gently moved her aside, fearing the worst. Instead, I found a very cute, black and yellow little fuzzball!

Today, Prim is happily watching over 7 happy, healthy chicks!!

 

[TheFunnyFarmOJ]

Henry the Great​

The day started out like every other. I opened my eyes to see a magnificent white light shining off the ground; I rubbed my eyes and realized it had snowed. We had all cuddled together the night before to keep warm from the sharp wind that could pierce right through your feathers straight to your bones. When the morning came I found myself still surrounded by my girls. I have the greatest flock a guy could ask for. I’m not sure who our match maker was, but I’m guessing maybe our farmer guy?! Whoever it was though, did a darn good job. Yesterday I could tell it was going to be cold so I brought everybody together, had a “peep talk”, and we all began to gather food for the harsh days ahead. While looking for food I was surprised to find us a new home. It appeared as though our farmer, who we “allowed” to live on our farm, had stacked a bunch of square bales of hay leaving a hole in the middle perfectly fitting for my small group of chicks and I. I knew right off this would be our safe haven from the bitter cold. It was a good thing Mr. Farmer man was thinking of us because now we are surrounded by several feet of snow. I stretched my flappers and woke several of the girls up in the process. It was so cold nobody really cared to move out from the huddle of feathers. But soon everyone began to stir. Oh, how rude of me, I forgot to tell you who I am. My name is Henry and the farm we are living on is MY farm. I am a rooster, well not to toot my own crow, but I am The Rooster. I have 12 hens “babes”, 3 pigs, 2 goats and 1 farmer guy living on my farm that I personally take care of. I am in charge of protecting everyone living here. Okay back to the story: As we all woke and began getting ready for the day I heard a noise, it sounded like somebody was trying to get in. I gathered the women folk together in the corner and dug out the other side to investigate. When I finally got through all the snow, not to mention the pile of yellow snow Pepper the dang ornery goat left there, I saw Archer the hawk perched in the tree above us and I knew then we had a big problem. I snuck around to the opposite side of the bales and found Archers minions, Lefty and Squeaks the rat brothers trying to tunnel into our new warm bale home. I immediately crowed my warning crow, hoping the girls would hear me and know to stay under cover. I attacked Lefty who was standing at the base of the hole they were digging. I kicked, spurred and pecked as hard and as fast as I could. Lefty rolled out from under me and I found out why they call him Lefty. Apparently he had been attacked before because he only had his left eye. I screamed in horror but apparently you can’t tell my scream from a war cry. Lefty took off running in terror leaving crimson blood spots on the white snow. I filled the hole Squeaks was in up with snow as fast as I could so Squeaks could not get out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Archer diving at me. I hopped out of the way and Archer ran his claws deep into the hay bales. He pulled and yanked and tugged trying to get dislodged but was not able to. He was stuck as stuck could be. I knew I could not defeat him but could give him a whooping he would never forget. I flew over to Archer and pecked him right in the eye. I heard Squeaks digging out and I knew I had only a few minutes to get the girls out from harm’s way. I ran over to the hole I had dug and crowed to the chicks telling them to get out fast. Within seconds the girls were filing out one by one. I made sure we were all accounted for and flew to the barn. Once we got inside, I hid the girls and flew to the top of the barn to look out. I saw Lefty and Squeaks pulling Archer off the bale while pecking at their battle wounds and Archer was cussing me under his breath. I crowed a VICTORY crow for all to hear. The farmer guy hearing my crow came running out of his house with a shotgun and began firing shots towards the hay bales, kinda like Rosco P Coletrain shooting at Luke and Bo Duke. I saw feathers and fur fly. This is just another day here on the Funny Farm. Oh, you may be wandering how a rooster can write a story… haven’t you ever heard of chicken pecking… J

 

[corancher]

Baby Huey

Hello, my name is Huey or as my mom calls me Baby Huey. I am a Giant Dewlap African gander and the first one of my kind on the farm. Let me tell you how that all came about.

You see, I was a fill in gosling, that means my breed was not ordered. To get to the minimum number of goslings to ship, my mom ordered bargain goslings from Holderread Farms. I was one of the goslings left after all the orders were filled and thus a bargain gosling. I was added to the goslings ordered to get enough goslings to ship safely.

I was different from the start. I was the biggest gosling and the only one with a dark bill. I grew so much faster than the other goslings. Because of my fast growth, I was very clumsy and always tripping over something. I was not the pretty gosling of the group but rather what some would refer to as an ugly duckling.

As we all started to lose our fluff and get are feathers in, once again I was the odd goose in the bunch as everyone else had white or lavender feathers, I had dark grey feathers. I was 4 or more inches taller than everyone else but the others picked on me. They pulled my feathers and nipped me. I was the outsider. They all stayed in a group and allowed me to tag along behind them. I was a happy fellow in spite of this.

As I grew into an adult, my voice was much louder than everyone else’s voice and since I was still the biggest of the group the other geese started to see that I was a good fellow to have around. I soon took on the role of the protector of the group. I was content with life or at least I thought I was.

My mom watched me as I grew and liked what she saw. She liked that I was big, loud, and a very nice looking gander but she liked my personality most. She said I could have been the bully of the barnyard but I was calm and gentle.

Mom liked me so much that she decided that I would be the foundation of the Giant Dewlap African geese on the farm. She got some other Dewlap African goslings and then kept some of the female geese so I would have my very own flock.

There are currently 9 Giant Dewlap African geese on the farm but I am a father of many more across the United States. Sometimes the other geese fuss with one another and I step in with my gentle presence to get them back in line. I am content with my flock and hope to live a long and happy life on the farm.

 

[FeyRaine]

SHORT STORY CONTEST ENTRY (1,068 word count)

The Love-child Egg; a chicken romance

While you’re all waiting to see who makes it out, I’m gonna tell you about how Egg W came to be, because I’m the proud Papa of that there hatchin egg, at it saved my life!





I hatched a couple years ago in a giant box filled with hundreds of other chicks, then before I even knew what was what I was in a small dark place tumbling along with a couple dozen other boys and girls. Then there was this bright light and my first Thumb, pulled me out and clued me in to food and water, which was quite a relief. Well that first Thumb, he was an Urban Guy so he couldn’t even tell us cockerels from the little ladies and on account of that those Urban turf wars got pretty rough. See my eye, that's the good one, the other eye it only opens half way since the big fight with LeeRoy, and that is when first Thumb started calling me Popeye. I’ve been told chicks dig scars but after LeeRoy busted my chop none of them little ladies ever asked me the time of day. LeeRoy they’d ask, and oh he’d Crow about it practically 24/7, and that is when the trouble started for my Thumb the Urban Guy. Long story short we was all in violation, so again with the box and next thing we know we are all in some way wild place not at all like the city.


At the new place there were some new laws, and a 3 strikes rule, the new Thumb she made it real clear. But that LeeRoy he just couldn’t help himself, next thing we know he’s all over that tiny little Thumb and she’s pulling some mixed martial arts moves just to get away. That's how my bud Cogburn came to be top Roo in the coop, and that was good for a while until it went to his head and I ended up having to roost ruff. I’m not whining, I’m bragging – see none of them silly hens paid me any never mind anyway and half of them feed themselves to the predators in broad daylight. If they’d had the smarts they’d of stuck with me, Popeye, I’d have watched out for ‘em with my one good eye. Ah well life wasn’t so bad, the small Thumb gave me feed every day and I just minded my own business free-ranging all around the barnyard; I was cool.




When summer came a new coop went up and next I know it’s all filled with Spring Chickens and the Bourbon Gals. Them Bourbon Gals was the biggest ugliest birds I’d ever seen but they told me to watch out for Bob, the new cockerel on the block cause he was way protective over his 4 stepsisters. So me, I just minded my own business a little further over in the pasture. It was a pretty good summer but then Cogburn disappeared and rumors started flying about big changes in the barnyard. I need to know more about this freezer camp and them Spring Chickens had grown up down by the Thumb’s coop so I figured I’d cozy up to one of them gals and see what she could tell me.





Well that is how I met Her, Olive Oil, wow was she the perky pullet! She kept asking me for the time, you know, real flirty like an all. We’d sneak out behind the barn for a little grub scratchin but next thing I know Bob would show up and feather would fly. That would get our little Thumb real upset, and I warned Olive Oil, cause she was young and me I’d been around the block and knew about these things. So me, I says Olive Oil, you’re a real pretty pullet, and I’d be mighty happy to keep you company but your step-brother Bob he don’t approve a none of me, and if he keeps upsetting our Thumb the ax is gonna fall if you know what I mean little lady. And that is when it happened, she looked at me with her beautiful eyes and said, “but Popeye your such a swell guy, I’m in love with you and we are gonna have to elope!”. So we made plans and that night she didn’t show for the coop closing and we hid out all night in the barn with Donkey HoeDee and Geni the Jenny, and they didn’t say a word to nobody, which is real cool for equines.





Well the next evening Olive Oil got rounded up by the Thumb at dusk, but she and I managed to slip out a few nights over the fall. Meanwhile I had my ear to the ground and found out from the goats that all us mutt Roos our days were numbered. Bob, and some gals got shipped out in the late fall and the Thumb invited me into the coop with Olive Oil and the Bourbon sisters. Olive Oil was beside herself with joy so I had to break it to her gently that any day now was likely the last meal for this here old bird. And that is when she surprised me again, she is such a smart gal my Olive Oil. She looked me dead in my good eye and she says Popeye, it’s gonna be ok, ‘cause I got a plan to show that Thumb what a great Roo you are. I heard from FarmDog that she is setting some eggs and has come up short so you and me we’re gonna make her an egg and save your life. So we got busy and first thing on the morning of Dec 11, 2012 that Olive Oil love of my life she gave our Thumb an egg. That thumb she was a dancing and singing holding that egg telling Olive Oil how happy she was to have an egg that day. Sure enough not long after she packed Olive Oil and I up in a box and sent us on a honeymoon. We never have heard if our little Love-child has hatched, but we’ve moved into our new place in Alabama where I’m king of the Roost and our new Thumb says me and Olive Oil we get to make lots more chicks to fill up the coop, so isn’t that grand!

 

[Designermomjs]

 

[kvmommy]

The Lonely Duckling
​

One of the most appealing things about the townhome we had just rented was the lovely duck pond that opened into a marsh directly behind our home. Half of the duck pond was surrounded by other townhomes. Sure we didn’t have a yard, but we had a small deck that overlooked the duck pond and into the marsh beyond. It didn’t matter what season it was, there was always beautiful and amazing wildlife to be seen. But our favorite season was when all the ducks came and soon had little ducklings. Everyday more and more ducks would come out with new hatchlings. We started to recognize all the mommies and their babies. Some would have a couple, and a few had over 11! Eventually they’d all come and eat bread from us. One day, a new mom came out, but she had only one duckling. What made these two stand out wasn’t the fact that she had only one baby, but rather that she was the worst mother ever.

From the first time we saw her, she was swimming quickly along the water and her little singleton was struggling to keep up and chirping frantically. She reached our side of the bank and climbed up to get bread. All the other mother’s had to take the longer route because the bank was too steep near us for the ducklings to be able to get out of the water. This momma just hopped out and walked away from her baby. The lonely duckling finally reached the bank and tried frantically over and over to get out. He would slide off the mud into the water repeatedly, all while crying his frantic chirp continuously. The momma then proceeded to beg food from myself and neighbors, then went to eat some grass and sunbathe. All while the lonely duckling paced her, just a few feet away in the water. All the other mother ducks were highly protective of their babies, and even mothers with 11 babies never left one behind.

Daily, I watched the antics of all the ducks and could only hope that this mother would find her mothering instinct, and also to wonder what had happened that she could neglect her baby so. Soon, the lonely duckling discovered the shallow end of the bank and would swim by himself to the end, and the run as fast as he could to find his mom. When he’d reach her, she’d completely ignore him. If other mothers were nearby, they’d all peck him and chase him away…and his mother didn’t care at all. He became the talk of the neighborhood. My neighbors, whom I rarely ever spoke to, became my confidants who wanted updates on how he was doing while they were at work. The first thing my husband would say when he came home was, “how’s our boy?” There was something, so pitiful and disheartening to see a baby of any sort, just tossed to the side by its own mother.

After about 2 weeks, and our amazement at his survival, most of the ducks had already paired off and left, a few new moms were showing up with new hatchlings. But the oddest thing happened…the lonely duckling’s mother suddenly had a new drake. She would spend all day swimming and eating with him and when her baby got near, both would chase him off. His own mother, abandoned him for a new man. In our daily lives, we see people do this sort of thing and it’s not that shocking. But seeing it in wildlife? That was truly horrendous and heartbreaking. Everyone in the neighborhood couldn’t stop talking about it. Everyone knew that a 2 week old duckling just was not able to survive without a mom. There were tons of predators, cars, cats, cool nights. We knew in our hearts, that this lone duckling was going to die.

One neighbor called a wildlife rescue and was informed that this was just a part of nature and they would not take him in. That first day he swam in circles around that pond crying his little heart out. I stayed outside with my daughter the entire day watching him. He never came up to eat. When the sun set, he went to the wild side of the pond and I couldn’t sleep that night. First thing in the morning I ran out with bread and waited. Then I saw him. With relief I started tossing bread on the bank to lure him over. Soon so many moms and their babies came to eat and I saw him swimming to the shallow bank and come towards me. All the moms who’d eaten their fill and were sunbathing with their brood nearby jumped up and attacked him. I tried to chase them off but only scared him more. After several hours he swam near me and I threw some bread to him. He was able to gobble down a few bites before the other moms chased him off again. This became our daily goal, anytime someone saw him they would give him food and try to fend off the other ducks. To our amazement, a week passed and he was still alive. He was getting bigger but not near as big as the ducklings who had hatched around the same time. He wasn’t as smooth and pretty…he had patches of missing fluff from angry moms. He wasn’t as round and as adorably plump as the other ducklings. But he was smart. The lonely duckling was learning to be a survivor. Lean, bedraggled, fast and intelligent. He would sneak along the shadows, sometimes fall in with other ducklings and eat as fast as he could before the moms would notice him. The moms were still taking their ducklings to the shallow part of the bank, and the lonely duckling was the only baby able to climb up the steep part and get to the bread first. When predators were nearby, he’d dart into his chosen hiding spots where other moms were frantically trying to get their entire brood under cover.

One day a woman showed up with a shoebox. She worked for the wildlife rescue and felt bad. At this point, we knew he was going to survive and that she would not be able to catch him. She said, “Oh, it will be easy to catch a weak, abandoned duckling.” She left that evening with an empty box.

As if things couldn’t be more depressing, I woke up one morning to the biggest brood of ducklings who also happened to have one of the best moms, running around outside chirping hysterically with no mom to be seen. I knew that something must have gotten her. They were older than the lonely duckling, and plenty fat, so I thought they’d be ok too. But they weren’t. They were scared and confused and slept on my deck that night, shivering until I took towels out for them. After 2 days of them starving and nearly freezing all 12 ducklings fortunately accidentally fell in with another brood of 11 ducklings who were several weeks younger. At first the mother started trying to chase them off but then as the chaos grew with 23 ducklings, she gave up and adopted them. As humorous as it was to watch a duck with 23 ducklings, I began to think that maybe we could get the lonely duckling adopted too. He apparently had the same idea. He fell in with them during a meal time, and instead of darting away…he stayed. With hope in my heart I prayed she wouldn’t notice. And she didn’t…at first. I was feeding another family that had approached when I heard squealing. She had the lonely duckling and was ripping his fluff out! I don’t know how she knew but she did. I was furious and screamed at her! She let him go, he darted under my deck, and the rest ran away. He eventually came out. I thought he’d be hurt, scared, defeated. He walked out, shook his fluff, looked at me and casually walked to the edge of the bank and jumped in the water. There was a gleam in his eye…a look of determination and intelligence that I never could have fathomed a bird could possess. At that moment I stopped worrying, took a seat and spent the rest of the summer enjoying watching him grow up into one of the strongest, most beautiful ducks on that pond.