Friday, July 3, 2015

The Chicken Chihuahua

The Chicken Chihuahua

Some chihuahuas may consider themselves housedogs or even lapdogs …but not Louie.  He lives with Gransie and Grandpa on the farm and rolls out of the barn everyday in the garden wagon beside the egg bucket, chicken scratch, and crumble.

As the wagon rolls up to the coop, Louie hops down and waits wide-eyed as Gransie unlocks the door.  He herds the hens and Easter chicks away from the feeders while Gransie fills them.  She then moves to the nests to check for eggs.  And, often,  Louie whines as Gransie approaches a nest with a hen still sitting in it. 

“Yep, Louie!  She’s hidin’ some surprises under her skirt this mornin’!” the woman sometimes says as she gently reaches in and pulls out 2 or 3 large eggs.  Gransie always pats Louie on the head and thanks him for finding those “hidden treasures.”

With the eggs safely tucked away,  they load up the water jugs, take them to the house to clean and fill, and Gransie sings, “Old MacDonald” as the Chihuahua howls along.  They deliver the morning refreshments to the hens, park the wagon for the next day, and head to the house where Louie always gets a treat for his hard work. 


You see, Gransie and Louie are a team.  They work together like clockwork.  They have it down to a science.  No worries.  No problems….…until one day in early June. 

They’d entered the coop and Gransie was about to lift the water jug when a curl on the top of her gray head snagged a hidden wasp nest.  Louie saw it happen, but what was a little Chihuahua to do?  He ducked for cover behind a hay bale and watched as Gransie moved faster than even he could say, “Aye, Chihuahua!”

The wasps flew like bombers straight down into Gransie’s  shirt and attacked her arms, legs, and everything in between from every direction.  She flew out of the coop screaming and running toward the house with clothes flying everywhere.

The coop was silent.  The door was tightly shut.  The hens were all huddled in a corner in terror.

Moments later, Louie stepped out from hiding and realized he was all alone in the middle of the pen.  There was no way out.  He was trying to come up with a plan when a giant shadow appeared all around him.  Gulping, he looked up to see old Red Rover, the barnyard rooster, glaring down at him with his one, good eye.

“Er-er-er-er-rrrrrrrrrrrrr!” he roared. “What ‘errrrr you doin’ in my coop?”

Now, Louie had heard about this bad boy and had seen him sitting around in the shadows.  He’d been known to cut down bigger animals than himself, and even Grandpa didn’t turn his back on him.   Louie had to be brave.  He had to think quickly.

He had to use…his…”Chi…hua…hua…POWER!”  He screamed it as he shot backwards under Rover’s belly and grabbed his long tail feathers in his teeth, jerking hard.  The old rooster was caught off guard as he bent over and looked at Louie upside down through his legs.  Louie jumped on his neck, rolling his head forward  and caught the rooster off balance, sending him into a forward somersault.  Red Rover was flat on the ground looking up when the door to the chicken coop swung open. 

“Louie!  There you are!  I was so scared when I couldn’t find you!”  Gransie squealed and scooped Louie up in her arms, holding him close.  Her eyes followed Red Rover as he stood and strutted over to a corner of the coop.   “Did that old Rooster try to hurt you?”

Louie growled quietly and barked as he looked over at the rooster. Then, he licked Gransie’s cheek, and they left the coop.  Only the chickens and old Red Rover understood what the pint-sized Chihuahua had said. 

“I’m no chicken!  I’m Chicken Chihuahua!”

And a legend was born that day, right there on Gransie and Grandpa's farm.


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