My corner of paradise

By Arete

Cheeky

Cheeky is one of five chickens we have, and a valued chicken member as he is only of one two that are laying.
Cheeky was named by my kids because he kept escaping from the run and would follow us around the garden like a lost puppy. It was kind of cute for a while but then he started poohing all over the paths and wrecking the flower beds. Keeping Cheeky in the run became a priority but it was nigh on impossible. Perhaps he should have been named Houdini. Anyway, with higher fences and clipped wings the battle of man v chicken was finally won.
What strikes me about Cheeky is what a character he is. Yet he spent most of his life in a box little bigger than a shoe box. Cheeky, you will have realised, is an ex-battery chook. When we went to the factory farm to get one or two chickens the man told us "$10 minimum charge or a $1.50 a chicken" (so one chicken would cost $10, as would five). Anyway, having seen the way these animals "lived" we brought home five...
I don't hug trees and I eat factory farmed pork and, to be honest I only feel a bit guilty about it now and then. But sometimes I cant help but feel that, one day, karma is going to get us all... then I let Cheeky out for five minutes.

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