For The Birds or Oh Lucy 1

 

A memorable moment while building our quail egg business was hatching our first batch of 500 eggs.  Right on schedule tiny chirps were heard from our brand new incubator which we kept inside the house during the winter.  I opened the door and pulled out the screen covered hatching tray which held what looked like a living carpet of downy feathers.   Without thinking I lifted the cover and in a few seconds the living carpet became down covered popcorn as the overcrowded hatchlings began to propel themselves out of the tray and onto the floor. 

At that same moment our two bird dogs came careening down the hallway following the sound of the chirping. I couldn't close the door without sweeping the tiny quail to their deaths but I had to form some kind of barrier between them and the dogs. I sat down, slammed my feet against one side of the doorway and braced my back against the other forming a human fence with my legs.  I shouted whoa which should have stopped the dogs in their tracks but whoa, they did not.  They slowed to an aggressive forward creep until they were straining against my legs wild eyed and licking their chops at the sight of the scattering birds.

With one hand I managed to get the lid back on the tray between bird launches while adding a rail to my human fence with the other arm.  Then in one swift motion I grabbed the dogs by their collars, struggled to my feet and dragged them  to  the bathroom shutting the door.  I ran back, fell to my knees and started stuffing baby quail into my pockets and using the front of my shirt as a makeshift bag.  Thinking I had found them all, I moved  them to the garage grow out pens along with the remaining birds from the hatching tray. 

When I returned the dogs had calmed down and the house was quiet. Then I heard it: one tiny chirp. I tried to follow the sound but every time I moved it stopped.  I knew the baby bird would die quickly without heat and water so in desperation I released the dogs with the command “Find the birds”.  They ran to the incubator and half-heartedly pointed, looking at me as if to say, “Really?! You don’t know where the birds are?” Suddenly there was another tiny chirp.  It only took them a few seconds of recalculation before they were on full point staring at an old boot.  I rescued the bird from the toe of the boot and gave the dogs some treats just as my husband arrived home.  He asked how everything went and I just smiled and said “great!” To this day I believe the dogs were smirking as they walked away.