Only me. Only me, I swear. This could ONLY happen to me.
There I am at the Pub, secure in the knowledge I will be picking up some chicken breed eggs tomorrow I don't have in my flock. One of the other regular Pub customers is a beekeeper and a regular handyman who has, in the past, raised chickens, ducklings and doves, even says he has an old incubator in storage... We frequently chat about silkies being broody, how much easier it is when hens hatch eggs, etc.. He isn't present; this is just the backstory to this tale. He knows I am setting eggs under a silkie hen for an Easter HAL.
One of the owners of the Pub - Ian - lives next to my Thistle Dew Ranch property. The beekeeper lives on Ian's property in a fifth wheel trailer. Another regular arrives, announcing Ian has hit and killed a wild turkey on the road, Ian and the beekeeper are considering cleaning the wild turkey carcass to cook it. A third regular hears this news and decides he will go get his knives from home and go over there to assist them (so the process is handled "right"). Laughing, he departs.
A short time later, the phone rings; the server answers it, listens, says,"Yes, she's here," then brings the phone to me. It is Ian.
The deceased turkey is a Jenny and she had an egg inside her. The beekeeper has told Ian it is hard-shelled enough to be a viable hatching candidate and urges him to ask ME to come rescue it, because I have a broody silkie.
Ian feels this is an opportune time to have me visit his property, have a glass of wine with the three of them, and salvage the turkey egg so his tenant doesn't get his tender heart broken. (I am paraphrasing much of what these three men said in this tale...)
The Jenny carcass is destined for a version of Coq au Vin. The guy with the knives opined frying would be the most appropriate cooking method. Ian and I, plus his lady friend who happened to call during the evisceration process agreed Coq Au Vin would be best. Ian will bring a small portion for me on Sunday evening, the Pub's Trivia Night (which I seldom miss).
Meanwhile, the not-laid egg was being kept warm inside the beekeeper's jacket next to his body; he put the precious thing in an empty coffee can half full of turkey down before handing it over to me.
And Sparkle has accepted the wild turkey egg. I may move it to a different broody hen when the planned-for Easter Hatch BCM eggs begin to hatch in three weeks....
It is going to be a long 4 weeks waiting to hear the outcome of this little adventure!