Chicken guardian angels

Title and idea courtesy of my husband. And the hens, lol. Oh, and the Year-End Smashwords Sale!

Do chickens have guardian angels? Do humans? I don't know the answer to either of those queries, but I have suspicions, and who is to say chickens or humans don't possess someone assigned to their well-being. I will say that yesterday morning my husband scraped a LOT of nasty poo off the wall, leading us to wonder if said chickens had coccidiosis. Yet, we didn't have the liberty to do much more than pray about it because we were meeting our eldest daughter in Santa Rosa for lunch and to exchange Christmas presents. We fed the chickens, I gave them some bonus straw in which to play, then chased after Nadia who slipped from the coop, that nimble hen! Finally trapping her near the door, I slowly picked her up, then set her where she belonged, wondering if later that night I'd be dosing their water with Corid.

Highway 101 yesterday morning, photo courtesy of my husband, as I was driving.

However, since I was doing the southern driving, I didn't delve deeply into what might or might not occur later. More important was keeping my eyes on the road, the sun low but present, until we reached Rio Dell and Scotia, where fog waited. The drive was a mix of sun, then clouds, then sun, and it was actually warmer in Humboldt County than in Mendocino or Sonoma Counties. A high pressure front is keeping the North Coast unseasonably warm and dry, while much of the rest of Northern California deals with chilly fog. Our daughter complained of the cold during lunch, as well as filling us in on many of their adventures. We shared our tales including those chickens and that morning's rather unpleasant discovery, of which I was starting to consider with greater depth than earlier in the day. One reason was that after we exchanged presents with our daughter, then bade her a safe drive home, the reason for our road trip was essentially over, and my mind was free to wander. Plus my husband was doing the driving, truly freeing me to mull over aspects of chicken care I haven't dealt with since the hens were but wee babes. We did a little grocery shopping there in Santa Rosa, then got on the freeway, heading north. It's nearly a four-hour drive back to our neck of the Redwoods, but once we passed Healdsburg, traffic was light, and after we obtained petrol in Ukiah, then skirted around Willits via the bypass, we were soon one of the few vehicles on 101.

Further down the freeway, the sun attempts a coup.

We chatted about the visit with our daughter, how much we missed her and her family, but how grateful we are not to live in the San Francisco Bay Area anymore. This time of year separations are hard, no getting around it. Yet we love our North Coast life, and, well, there you go. Then we discussed the chickens, in that if the nasty poo of the morning was found in copious amounts within the coop, well.... Well then we'd dose their water, and that within the run, with Corid for the next five to seven days, what I read on my phone in spurts of internet connectivity, of which there is little once Willits is left behind. But maybe those chickens had simply eaten something that didn't agree with their rather accepting digestions. They had roamed a'plenty on Sunday, who knew what they had scavenged?

So much beauty in our area!

As we approached home, dusk grew thick, yet a band of orange light hovered to the west, shining in a thin line along the horizon. It reminded me of writing the scene between Tris and Tama in Life Stories: The Enran Chronicles Book Two, as well as what Noth recalls in Far Away from Home: The Enran Chronicles Book Three, also Sooz's love for sunsets in Home and Far Away: The Enran Chronicles Book Four. Two of those novels are set here in California, Book Four south of Ukiah, Book Two in the Eureka area. Craning my neck, I caught as much of the sunset as was possible, still pondering the state of my chickens, and how thankful I was to get our daughter's text that she had reached home safely. Darkness reigned when we arrived home, and upon checking the hens, I was again grateful to find all were well, if not a little surprised at our late intrusion; several were already on the wall, preparing for sleep, but flew down as we took their feed from the coop, finding three eggs had been laid during our absence. I then wondered if chickens should be a feature in the next Enran novel, and I think they will, lol! We said goodnight to the hens, then put away the feed, making our way back to the house. A late supper was enjoyed, but I was tired, and went to bed before nine p.m.

Mystery Hen! She doesn't have a proper name, and suggestions are welcome. 

Less than twelve hours later, I was thrilled and relieved to find normal chicken droppings on the wall, WHEW!! If guardian angels had been with us and our daughter during our drives on Monday, similar angels had been looking after the chickens too, for all seemed FINE. They spent a good portion of the morning free ranging, and we gained three more eggs, as well as learning who is the Mystery Hen, one of The Triplets. She was laying her egg when Nadia went into the coop, then Nadia started making a RACKET, either because said Triplet was in Nadia's nesting box, or more rightly because they were the only two chickens in the coop. Soon enough they joined their sisters, all eight hens happily pecking and scratching at the ground, seeking whatever chickens find to their likings. Later I gave them some scratch, because they hadn't had any treats for a few days, and while Nadia and Cami enjoyed one area, the other six crowded around their spot, Camilla standing in the middle of it as though she owned the whole run.

Nadia on the left, Triplet on the right. All is well now that Nadia has someone within her gaze.

Such is my life as a chicken-owning author, LOL. For the rest of this month, Smashwords is having their annual End of Year Sale, and as usual all my books there are free! If you're looking for a special literary gift, or merely needing a new book for yourself, check out the deals, of which there are many. Maybe not as many as there are guardian angels, I'll leave that for you to decide. All I know is the chickens are well, Christmas presents have been delivered, and I'm filled with gratitude for multiple reasons, which is what this time of year is truly all about.