NEWS

HOW POULLETTE ESCAPED FROM THE EGG LAYING FACTORY

I heard a rumor from my mother’s friend, Chicken Little, that my mother, Poullette, was forced into an egg laying factory by her evil uncle Galo. She was very young, still just a pullet, when she was cooped up by Coq Chanceux, who ran the hen house. 

There were a lot of bad birds there, but she did meet some good eggs…Two of them were Welsh, Cyw Iar, a Mother Hen and Cyw Hwyaden, a Welsh Harlequin Duck. Apparently they introduced themselves to Poullete, saying, “Cymry ydym.” Which means, “We’re Welsh.” And then they would ask her what she was doing at the Egg Laying Factory.

Both were appalled when they learned that evil Uncle Galo Malo had done the dirty deed. He was a friend of Coq Chanceux,the slimy customer who ran the Factory.

Cyw Iar and Cye Hwyaden were determined to break out, clucking and quacking back forth hatching plans for escape. They would say, “Beth am gael y place all an o fan hen!” Or words to that effect, which means, loosely translated, “Let’s get the pluck out of here!”

Batty Hilda, was another Heroine! She was a tough old bird who had survived a neck-wringing and lived to scratch through another day. She was equally determined to crack the code on how to escape and fly the coop! These three birds took little Poullette under their wings and included her in their scheme.

Since Cye, Cyw and Batty Hilda had been there for a long time, they knew the ropes of how the factory operated. First, they had figured out how to get out of their cages-the most important thing! They knew the people who worked there, what time they arrived and what time they left. They knew where the loading docks were, what time the egg trucks arrived

and the time they left. They knew who was nice and who was not, who was easy to fool and who was sharp. Thus, they knew which would be the best times to escape and they began to hatch a plan.

Their plan was to escape in the wee hours of the morning, when everyone - including the nightwatchman-was asleep! So, they began to hoard some of their daily food, squirreling it away underneath the hay so that they could use it when the time came. They timed it so that they would arrive at the door of loading dock just as the midnight egg truck was being packed. They scrambled behind a stack of old egg crates, hoping that they wouldn’t be heard. It was very quiet except for the noise of the workmen and an occasional snore from the night watchman. Just as the men were about to finish one of them noticed a pile of feathers and got suspicious. They four hens squeezed together as the big footed man stomped around, telling his partner that there was something strange going on…it was unusual to see so many feathers lying on the ground. The other laughed and made a comment about having chicken salad for breakfast, a thought that ruffled the birds’ feathers and made them quake where they stood. The two dock workers shifted some boxes around, coming within inches of the birds, but finally gave up the hunt and finished loading the egg crates onto the truck.

Now it was time to make their final escape. With extra food in their beaks and songs in their rapidly beating hearts, the three hens and one harlequin duck flew onto the back of the egg truck as it pulled out of the loading dock! 

They buried their heads under their wings for the first few miles, just relieved to be free! And, then they noticed that the truck was approaching a Farmer’s Market on a river bank and decided this was a great place to jump, blend in for a bit and then run away. So, as the truck took a hard turn (nearly cracking some eggs) the four feathered friends flew out and onto the pavement.

Luckily for them it was so early in the morning that no one was about. The ground was all damp with fog and a little slick with oil, and dark except for patches of light that of an occasional street lamp. Wandering around they could discern big bobbing shapes, which they figured were boats. They had heard Coq Chanceux and Galo Malo discuss boats and how they could swim through the water like giant ducks or geese. Finally, they found a ship painted with a picture of a Swan and decided that was the vessel that would carry them into their future. So, they hopped on and sailed away!

How Poullette met my father is a story for another day….