Questions from a 4 Year Old

"Can chickens bend their knees?" William asked. We were in the barn attempting to fix a stall door, or rather I was. William was peppering me with questions. That one pulled me from my concentration on the door mechanics. Do chickens even have knees? Preschoolers have a way of questioning the world that doesn't often occur to an adult.

He sat on the heavy wooden door, laid flat for these repairs, and petted his bantam chicken. "Did God make chickens?" he asked, delving deeper into conversation than chickens' knees.

"Yes, God made chickens," I responded, trying to remove a bolt from the door without removing a digit.

"Did God DREAM about chickens and then there were chickens?"

I thought for a moment. I suppose that's probably the best way to explain it to a 4 year old, so I answered in the affirmative.

"He just dreamed it and it happened?"

"Yes."

"No, he didn't."

End of discussion.

---

Baby Birds

Lauren returned from the barn with a baby bird. It didn't surprise me. This time of year, we often find baby birds and fledglings gone astray. The fledglings we try to guide to a place in the barn where they're not likely to be tramped on by my 1200 pound horse, but the baby birds are a different matter.

Each year, we find baby barn swallows out of their nest. Some are dead when we find them. It is often on the hottest of days, over 90 degrees F. Some are alive. We've heard that sometimes sparrows will push swallows from their nest, wanting the barn for themselves, but I've not witnessed this.

This baby she brought was viable, so I took it to the barn and put it back in one of the several nests there. Then, I began the work on the stall door.

The swallows swooped in and made a circuit of the barn. They swooped down on me, trying to scare me off. In their circling, I could see that they'd go close by the nest with the baby. They were looking. I wondered if I'd put him in the right nest. Then, I heard him peep. The barn swallow made another fly-by. I could just hear her thinking, "Peeper, is that you? HowEVER did you get over to that nest?"

Finally she landed, took off again and left the barn. She came back soon, though and fed the baby. Yea! I've not gone to look yet today, and I'm afraid to, but I'm hoping we've at least given him a chance to be raised by his own kind.