ARCHER'S CHICKS SURPRISE
I was travelling with my long time friend Eddy one
fine afternoon when he received a phone call from his wife. His mother-in-law
had delivered a box full of one week old chicks to their home and walk away.
They were about 30 little quacking creatures. They needed shelter, water,
warmth and food. The mother in-law had told her to take care of the chicks,
there were no other instructions.
Eddy was driving the car when the call came through,
and I was his core driver as usual.
The guy got confused after hitting the 'end call' key.
First, he had never tried raring chicken. Two, he had never dreamt of putting
up a chicken house in his town residence. We are traditionally cattle and goats
keepers in Archer's Post, a town in Samburu County. Poultry is for the bird
lovers. But throwing away those chicks would amount to total disrespect to a
beloved mother in-law; in fact it would be an abomination.
I saw him stare way ahead of us with a forlorn look
written all over his face. That is him when he switches to an 'active mode'!
The vehicle picked up speed and I knew he was almost getting an answer to sort
the little 'kukus' awaiting his decision back home. Then he yanked his phone
from the dashboard and frantically dialled a number.
'Ero tukutane nyumbani juu nataka unitengenezee nyumba
ya kuku'. That was it.
Two days later the chicks had a nice little house, a
feeding trough and enough drinking water. Would they survive the above normal
heat of Archers Post? There are no commercial poultry feed sellers in our town
and I am not sure if the vet guy treats chicken there too. The poor creatures
will definitely die in a few days! I would have carried my right hand aloft to
swear that time.
Then I traveled out to my work station and wished him
well. A few days later some goat thieves raided several homesteads’ in the area
and made away with almost all the stock they found in the pens. A number of
injuries were reported until the situation was finally arrested. The victims
became poorer than before but thank God they were alive. I forgot about the
chicks even though I made calls to Eddy over that period to catch up on the
local news and gossips. Two months fleeted by and I traveled back home.
Alas! The chickens were still alive. All of them were fully
grown and as plump as a kitchen pussy. I was ashamed for my earlier thoughts. I
also spotted a cat hovering along the fence, maybe still hoping to break in and
grab one of them.
Lunch was served to the two of us: an aromatic dish of
rice and goat stew. Food stimulates my creativity, and it was then that I
realized that my friend was set to reap from sells in less than a month.
Christmas, the chicken eating season, was just around the corner. As if the
chicken project was mine, I started daydreaming on all possibilities. 'This is
definitely the new smart farm here. We can fill those empty goat kraals with
chickens! I can bet that any jobless youth out there could learn from this guy
considering that as a successful pilot project. The campsites, lodges and the
ever growing town population was a ready market for chicken there.' Etc!
The chicks were a surprising eye opener all together!
