The Chicken Kitten

When the girls were little they were always bringing animals home that they had found abandoned; of course I did too. Then on the way home from school, they saw a box making noises in the bushes, on investigating they found a litter of new born kittens. We kept them warm and fed them, the whole while looking for good homes for them. One day we noticed that one of the kittens was missing. It was a mystery, how could such a tiny creature get out of the box? We looked everywhere and were surprised when we found him sitting under a chicken who also happened to be sitting on a batch of duck eggs. This chicken was very maternal and since we had no cockerel she made due with other babies. As the ducklings started to hatch and follow the chicken, so did the kitten. The kitten would eat tomatoes and avocado skins and the leftovers that chickens eat. We tried to give him cat food but he wouldn’t have it. He never became tame. We could touch him but not pick him up. All his kitten brothers found good loving homes but the chicken kitten stayed with the chickens and ducks for over two years when he finally fell in love with a cat from the neighborhood. He left to make a home for his own new family. We would catch a glimpse of him from time to time in the bird-pen, he must have come to visit his mother and siblings and to show off his offspring. His female cat would never go in the pen she just sat on the roof of the garage and watched. Just another story of identity crisis amongst my animals and it proves the point that your real parents are the ones that care, nurture, love you no matter what and are there when you need them.