The Barnyard Chronicles: Crazy Ladies Hester and Maude

What can we say about Hester and Maude...Well, Hopper seems to think they are a little off their perches and a lot of something he can't quite put his beak on. But they keep to themselves and wander around the barnyard minding their own businesses all day.

Hopper watches them from his nice clean pool, and he lets a soft honk float on the air in their direction to see if they hear him. They ignore him as they seem to be somewhere else and not in his world. He goes back to splashing and thinks about his rock collection he can show the goats today.

The two chickens have been in the yard since before Hopper, so he is not sure how old they are or where they came from. Hester is black all over and has feathers on her feet and legs. Maude is black and white her legs are black, but her legs do not have feathers. They live in the barn not the chicken house with the other chickens and this is the first weird thing.

The other chickens love their chicken house that belongs just to them no one else goes in there not even Hopper or Clyde the duck. They have nice high perches to keep them safe and clean boxes to lay eggs. They don't have to worry about a rooster either since Mister passed away of old age. Hester and Maude came to live on the farm as chicks with Mister a long time ago. But chicken's memories like Hoppers are short so they don't know when that was, they do not even remember their own arrival on the farm let alone the crazy ladies.

Hester and Maude wander around the end of the barn to the shade and tall grass and are soon forgotten by everyone else but Cleo and Caesar the dogs. Caesar has been on the farm before everyone but the goats. He remembers Hester and Maude when they were chicks, and he keeps an eye on them when they wander around. They keep close to the barn and do not go outside the fence which Caesar likes since he can keep them safe. He knows they are old, for chickens at least and it is his job to watch everyone.

At night Hester and Maude perch on the stall railings between Val and Sara the big goats. When the goats finish eating the chickens scratch around the hay to clean up what they didn't eat. Sara likes to rub her head on the chicken's tummies when they are perched and sometimes Hester walks on their backs scratching them where they itch.

Sometimes they make a nest in the hay and lay eggs Caesar and Cleo always find them and take them to eat. They eat grain with Clyde the duck and JoJo who is a Guinea, but they don't talk to them. They whisper to each other and hunt bugs in the sun and take dust baths in the corners of the barn.

The mental instability of Hester and Maude is always in question since they only talk to each other, and they only interact with Val and Sara. Usually when some chick is like that everyone writes them off as crazy or weird. Mister the rooster talked to them until new chickens moved in and then he rarely if ever talked to the old ladies when he had young ones to protect and impress. But now Mister is gone, and Hester and Maude are off on their own business not seeming to miss Mister or want to interact with the young ladies.

The thing that keeps everyone in the barn on their toes is when one of them sleepwalks. No one knows who started it but early one morning before the sun peaked over the trees, before the night air changed to the early morning feel, and before the wild birds started singing. One of the crazy ladies jumped down walked out of the barn and started making this noise like she was being strangled or was choking on one of Hopper's rocks. This made Caesar and Cleo run and bark thinking they were going to have to chase something away. Cleo was hoping for an owl since an owl took Clyde's woman Bonnie. But then they got out front no one was there.

This weird behavior went on every morning for about a week no one knowing who started it or who was doing it. Hester and Maude went about their business everyday like normal not letting anyone know what was going on. The farmer came out one morning and saw Maude out front trying her best to crow like a rooster. She stretched her neck out, stood on her tip toes, and let out this noise that wasn't quite a strangle but certainly not a crow. The dogs came flying around the barn and Maude silently slipped back into the barn.

Now the farmer didn't know what was going on and wondered if maybe Maude was a rooster but knew she wasn't. Not long after that she caught Hester doing the same thing. The farmer wondered if maybe they missed Mister or were doing it because there wasn't a rooster to welcome the sun like roosters are supposed to do. Soon everyone decided the ladies were crazy and just ignored them only waking when Cleo decided to bark at whoever decided they were going to try to crow in the early morning air.

Hester and Maude are smart girls. When Mister left, they were lonely but soon learned they could be on their own and still be ok. They talked to each other when they found yummy bits of food like Mister would talk to them when he found food. They learned to stay close to the barn and the dogs to stay safe. They didn't need Mister to tell them what to do or when to do it. When Mister passed away, they knew the morning needed to be welcomed and no one was doing it, so this to was something they could try to do.

Now when the morning air changes, and the wild birds start singing you might hear a strangled noise come from the front of the barn and see the little shadow make its way back in to go back to bed. Everyone in the yard has something to say about Hester and Maude and crazy ladies is always at the top. But Hester and Maude still get out there and welcome the morning with all their might and they still walk around the yard with their heads held high knowing their job is well done and a chicken's job is never done.