Uncle Ed and Aunt Laura Atwood
I spent a lot of time with Aunt Laura looking after the chickens at the Atwood Hatchery. I remember watching her "grade" eggs with a machine that had a "candle" light to see if the egg was fertile. If it was fertile it had a tiny drop of blood in it. The machine sorted the eggs according to their weight. Double yolk eggs were good to eat but not to hatch chicks from.
I went with her to feed the chickens in each chicken house. She had to knock on the door so the silly things could get all excited and fluttery and settle down again before we could go in. The egg boxes were along one wall. I was allowed to help gather the eggs and put them in wire baskets that she carried. I just had to be sure I counted how many I added.
Always I have loved to watch chickens, and to listen to them talking softly to each other, and see them turn from tiny balls of fluff to little ugly things with pinfeathers, to big bustling hens over the weeks. I never cared to go near a rooster, although I think they are beautiful. When you are a little person, a rooster will try to scare you and even attack sometime if he thinks you are after his hens.
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