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Cleghorn Estate
I was in one of the fields, Parkhead, cutting thistles with the tractor
and reaper along the back of a dry stone dyke when I looked behind and saw
a puff of feathers. I stopped and went and had a look. It had been a
partridge sitting on her nest of chickens. So I went back to the farm
and got a cardboard box and back to the field to get the chicks and put
them gently in and then back to the farm.
First thing - to get a heat lamp, for the chicks, and an extension
cable. I put them in the spare bedroom with the heat lamp above the box
to keep them warm and safe so I would have a little bit of time to try and
get a clocker hen for the chickens. So I phoned the Borthwicks to see if
they could help me out.
Well, my luck was in! The Borthwicks had a clocking hen and a pen to go
with it. So straight after work I headed straight for the Borthwicks and
picked up the clocking hen and its wee hut and a water vessel and then
back to the house and chickens.
They were fine under the heat lamp so I put them on the grass in front of
the house. I felt very good. The hen took to the chickens straight
away and in general was a very good mother. She looked after them and
kept the chickens fine and warm. Spade, my dog, kept cats away. His
kennel was at the side of the green. He was on a long chain, just short
of the hen and its wee chicks.
They grew up quickly and could fly within a fortnight. I kept the hen
for a week. I saw the partridges twice – once right back with the
clocker hen, and once the other side of the farm. That was the last I
saw of them.
So I took back the clocker hen and its wee hut to Mrs. Borthwick and to
tell her about the partridges. Mrs. Borthwick was pleased that her hen
had been a good mother for the partridges. I thanked her for all the
help she had given and the loan of the hen.
I popped in now and then if I was up near Highgate for a chat. She was
always up to something - baking, or making jam, or packing eggs on trays.
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Webmaster replies
Contact us
and tell us what you think of this story.
That's a word I haven't seen or heard in
a long time, 'clocker'.
I wonder if anyone these days would
still take the care and patience to do what you did.- I doubt it. |
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