GATHERING EGGS--FATHER IN TROUBLE!

Yesterday I told you about setting of the hens and new baby chicks. Before you put the eggs under the hen you had to candle the eggs to see if they were fertilized. Only fertilized eggs were used. It took 21 days for the eggs to hatch.

We had lots of eggs to gather everyday. What we didn't eat, we sold or traded for what we needed in town. I'm sure in the winter they had to gather them more often. This was one of my chores in the evening. Of course, sometimes hens would not lay their eggs in the usual spots, and you had to go and find where they might lay them. Of course, the barn was a perfect spot, with all the hay and straw around to make a nest.

One day while gathering eggs, my father came to the barn door, and asked me to bring the cart (one we used to feed the cattle). He had just been trampled by a pair of mules. He was taking off their harness and stepped on a piece of paper. Mules are very flighty and they reared up and down, kicking and kicking. My father was in their stall and nearly was trampled to death. He managed to get over the manger and to the barn door as I was approaching. He asked me to pull him to the house. I started pushing him in the cart, and he was so weak he couldn't hold his legs up. He told me to turn the cart around and pull it to the house. He nearly passed out. Our father was "Rock" in our little world, and I don't know what in the world we would have done without him.

I think we called the doctor and he was OK, but was bruised up a lot.

Another time I was gathering eggs in the barn I saw one of our cows (her name was Baby) and she was leaning against the stall after giving birth a month before. Most cows stand up and walk immediately after they give birth, but Baby could not walk. So this was a milestone to see her standing up (even though she was leaning against the side of her stall). Tomorrow I will tell you the story about Baby.