Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tragedy and Triumph

We lost our chicken coop last night to a fire.  It was after dark when we got home from Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and a neighbor came over to tell us that the fire department had been there to put a fire out.  I guess the heat lamp that was keeping them warm somehow caught something on fire.  Maybe it got knocked down and lit the straw.  We don't know.  All I know was that my little girl, the lover of all animals and keeper and protector of all her beloved chickens, was devastated.  We could see the charred remains of one of the little guys in the pile of rubble.  There were four in the coop.  We assumed that all of them got trapped and burned.  This is what was left of our little coop. 


So we went to bed, but didn't get much sleep.  We were visited during the night by a heartbroken little girl so much that we gave in and let her sleep between her momma and daddy.   Then right after I pushed the snooze button on the 6am alarm clock, I heard something outside.  I was still half asleep and didn't believe my ears at first.  Then I heard it again....a cock-a-doodle-do!  We all jumped up, got our coats and boots on over our pajamas and found this outside our door:


I have no idea how these guys escaped and survived.  I guess the fire department got here in time to save them.  We were so happy and started looking for other survivers. 

That's when I heard a rustle on the other side of the yard.  We ran over there and found this sweet girl, my kids' favorite little hen, the momma to the rest, Martha.



I've never seen a happier little girl.



Anybody have a chicken coop for sale?

Don't you love happy endings? 

3 comments:

  1. I'm so glad that there were some that made it out! Mother Earth News has plans for a great chicken coop...I think you cam get them free from their website.

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  2. Awww how wonderful! This brought tears to my eyes, as a fellow chicken momma and my boys love their girls, they would be devestated! So glad they are back and well!

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  3. An awesome real life story. Thanks for sharing.

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