Earlier this summer, we lost our 11 year old golden retriever. It took some time to get over the initial heartbreak and the boys have struggled with it as well. They have talked much more about death than usual 7 and 4 year olds, but we have taken it in stride and supported them.

This morning I thought I was going to have to do that all over again. The boys let our chicks out at around 7 and it was a little dark, not too bad.  About 30 minutes later one of the boys was out back and came in screaming, “Dad, I have searched everywhere and I can’t find the fourth chick. I think it’s Four-D!” (he had just seen his first 3-d movie when we got the chickens, hence the name)

I figured the chick had just wanted some private time and was off in one of her favorite hiding spaces. So I set down everything I was doing because as Connor put it, “Dad, I think finding out whether or not one of our chickens is dead is much more important than going to school.” I searched, everywhere and could not find the fourth chicken. I was afraid that a Racoon had gotten him. I didn’t suspect an Eagle or other large bird. He could have gotten out, but Connor told me he had found only one chicken in the neighbor’s yard. So, I just thought to myself, “Well that sucks. We lost a bird. There is nothing else I can do. I have to get these lunches ready and the kids off to school.”

I told Connor that he was right. We had lost one of our chickens, but I still felt that it would show up. Now he had to finish getting ready for school. But Connor is a bit stubborn and he stayed outside looking. Then I watched him. He slowly went over and picked up one of the other chickens and started carrying it around with him. He figured that the Chicken would make noise in his arms and call to the one that was lost and since they were all sisters, she might come running. No luck. But, he did suddenly hear a sound, underneath the porch, behind the worm farm and the cedar chips and lawn mower. It was dark in there but he looked and then came out screaming as he let me know he had found the fourth chicken.

But the most amazing part was that as Connor’s eyes adjusted he saw something remarkable: an egg. Again, out he came screaming that he had found the chicken and she had laid an egg. Well upon further examination with his 4 year old brother, there wasn’t just one egg down there. There were 9 eggs. 2 were double yolk eggs (we haven’t opened them but the big ones are double yolks). So here was Connor, so proud that he had found the lost chicken, that he had found 9 eggs as well. Because the chickens hadn’t been laying eggs in the coop for the past few days, I had been worried about them. The only three we found had been cracked and were covered with mites. Yes, I am working on the mite problem though I hear it takes a little while. So the chickens got fed up with the bad beds and made one of their own, totally out of the way where they thought they would be protected.

Why did I share this? I am not really sure because this isn’t about parenting, but I guess it was just one of those moments as a Dad when you look out at your kids trying to be a sleuth and you can actually see all the neurons firing and trying to figure something out. It often reminds us of the time we did that as kids. The pride on Connor’s face upon finding his chicken and the eggs is not something I will soon forget.