THE TALE OF CHICKEN TURKEY

            THE TALE OF CHICKEN TURKEY.

     The other saturday my friend Julie came home with a very sorry looking
turkey.  She had rescued it from an old fellow who was selling it. Now is
the time to buy in young turkeys and feed them up for christmas. The poor
bird was in a sorry state. The legs were tied together, it had been flung down
in the blazing sun next to a fruit and veg stall, the old boy was asking 6 euros
for it. Julie had become very upset and angry at the way it had been treated,
so she offered all she had, 5 euros.The old fellow refused saying 6. The
vendor of the veg: stall threw him the last euro, he to was upset by the poor
creatures plight.

     When they arrived back at Julies place, it was realized that the bird could
not stand unassisted. So long it must have lain with its legs trussed together.
It did want to eat and drink, doing so laying on its side. On close inspection the
feet were found to be swollen and very dirty, with ridges imprinted into the
soles, as if it, in its babyhood, had been kept in a wire cage! As the days passed
its feet were twice daily cleaned and dead skin removed. It was held in a bath
of water to encourage it to move its legs and the best way for it to eat was sitting
in a flower pot for support. With great love and patience it recovered and is now
able to stand alone.
     The young turks name is gobble obble. You won't be able to eat it now l said.

     Some years back , down in the Albox rambla on tuesday market day, there
were chicken selling stalls. Live ones, egg laying ones, baby ones, eating ones,
ducklings, quails, geese, and in August turkeys, young ones.

     One tuesday we bought two. Bravely  we said for Christmas and put them in
with the chickens. Every one said "blackdpot". Blackspot is a turkey illness that
likes damp and wet, not so sure here especially in the burning summer. In with
the chickens the turkeys grew and grew. One turned into a girl and one into a
boy. They were neither ugly nor stupid, but wonderous birds, who danced and
gobbled, their heads and necks would change colour, from red to blue. They
would warn of danger and loved to roam far and wide.

     Then came Christmas. My sister said that we were cruel and that she had
seen a turkey weeping. We chickened out and asked the neighbour. He said
that he never kills living things. The boy had been pre promised but we kept
the girl. We turned vegetarian.

     So solitary turk lost her mate and lived with the chickens. In February she
started laying one ovoid buff coloured egg every day in the hens nest. Being
so much bigger than the chickens, she would accidentally break their eggs.
She started to become a bully, not her fault. The pecking order means pecking
and a peck from an enormous turkey hurts.

     Anyway, her preferred perch at night was high on top of the chicken run.
Here she was in mortal danger of her life. She had also taken to nesting
in the bushes. Which ment much trampling around but in her unprotected
home she was happiest. The hens also, could reistablish the pecking order
without getting knocked out or loosing an eye.

     So, one misty night, she disappeared, not a feather!