Wednesday, July 23, 2008

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished


No good deed goes unpunished is my hubby's favorite saying but I'm a cup half full kind of gal. I have avoided this kind of thinking for many years. I really don't buy into it. If that were the case nobody would do anything for anyone. So because I love random acts of kindness I offered my neighbor 6 of my young hens. Due to the fact that she had to spend a month in England to visit her elderly mother she didn't get her chicks this spring and I know she really wanted to have fresh eggs by fall. She had a beautiful coop all ready for a flock.

These 6 young pullets were a bit younger than my other girls and I figured I didn't really need 16 chickens. But I did really like these because they were my rare chicks from McMurry's. 3 Light Brahmas and 3 Speckled Sussex. They were friendly and lovely.

The other day I took them over to her farm and we put them in the coop. I told her that they should be kept in for several more weeks because they were a bit small and I was afraid they would get hurt. Well she kind of poo pooed me and said they would be fine. She was very pleased to have them so I told her I was sure she would take good care of them. The only stipulation was that if one of the Light Brahmas turned out to be a rooster I wanted fertile eggs so I could hatch out some Light Brahmas next year.

A few days later my husband came home from walking the dog and said he saw the neighbor and she was carrying a dead brown chicken (Speckled Sussex). Boy was I mad and told him how she had poo pooed me (can you tell I hate to be poo pooed?) when I said she should keep them in the chicken house for a while.
He said,"Yep, no good deed goes unpunished."
I said that I was sure she would make sure the others were safe now that she knew what could happen.

A few more days go by and we are out walking the dog again, because that dog needs a lot of walking, and she drives by and stops. She has a sheepish look on her face and tells me that she lost one hen a day, something was getting into her run, until she was down to one and then gave that one (Light Brahma) to her horse trainer. What the heck!
Hubby said, "Gee that's strange, we haven't lost a one."
And because I am lousy at confrontations I didn't say much....until Hubby and I walked on and then I ranted and raved about how I paid $30 for those chicks and why didn't she give the one back to me? Why give it to someone else? I told him again how she poo pooed me. I told him that when the first one died wouldn't you think that she would be more careful with the others? I told him how much I had liked those chicks.

After a few minutes Hubby says, "Wow, this really bugs you."


I said "Yep, no good deed goes unpunished."

17 comments:

Tracey said...

Oh my goodness, I stumbled upon your blog tonight and I am hooked, I love it!
I found you because I saw your comment on Shanda's blog about her poor hen. So sad!
Can I please move to your farm?!haha
I am an animal lover too, my dream is to someday have a small farm.
Looking forward to a longer visit on your blog soon, I have to go to bed now - have to work tomorrow.
:) Tracey

Heidi said...

What an ungrateful ole cow!! Did I just say that out loud... its the hormones really. I have found that when I give somthing to someone they take less care of it than if they bought it from me. I guess I am completly old fashion - when I get a gift I care for it as if my life depended on it because I could not stand the thought of making someon feel like you feel right now!!!
ON TOP OF THAT - give the chicken away!! WTH!!!!!! I wouldnt give her so much as a dirty look after that! LOL But like I said, its the hormones really.. wink wink...

Danni said...

Nothing your neighbor did makes any sense to me at all! I'm so sorry - they were beautiful chickens and your babies!!! What an idiot. And, without a doubt, she had no right to give the last one away, without, at a minimum, talking to you about it first.
This breaks my heart - the poor little chickens. Grrrr.....

Chanda said...

I am sorry that this lady chose to treat you and your precious chicks in such a poor, poor manner. I can't imagine a person being so ungrateful and foolish. I hope you do give her a piece of your mind someday, and please don't hesitate to be very honest if your ever ask for a reference about her. You may save an animals life by doing so and maybe another kind soul from a lot of greif.

goatgirl said...

Hi Tracey, Thanks for stopping by and leaving such nice comments and yes you may come live on the farm as long as you will clean out stalls. It is really more of a petting zoo though. Please come back.
Heidi,farmgirl and Shanda, The thing about my neighbor is that I really like her. She has been very good to me and employed my son for many years on her beautiful farm. She would drop anything she was doing to come help me with my animals so I felt she would take care of these chicks. If I didn't I wouldn't have given them to her.
I just needed to vent about this one thing and luckily she doesn't do computers so won't be reading my blog.
My hubby always tells me it is not good to give animals away....especially if you can see them. I hate it when he's right.
Thank you for being as "up in arms" as I was. To me they are not just chickens. They relied on me to keep them from harm. I feel bad I didn't do that.
I knew you would understand.

Country Girl said...

That sucks, don't you hate it when stuff like that happens. Try to be nice and you get burnt!

Heidi said...

I understand Girly.... Sorry to be so 'straight forward' shall we say!! LOL When other peoples manners fail somtimes it really hard to swallow. Dang the man for being right! I would wonder if she thought you were trying to get rid of extra's and did'nt feel like it was such a personal gift from you. She probably didnt see it as somthing special as much as somthing that she could do to help you out by giving them a home??? Just a thought.... I know how you feel when you talk about getting them a safe place to live. That is how I feel about the animals that we 'give' away also. We have an ample supply of kittens at times and I always hesitate to give them to other farms because they are 'just cats'.. BUT, we make sure our cats are healthy because they help us to keep the rats and mice out of our feed - that has value and they should be treated accordingly. Man, do I get on a tangent or what!!! anyway - my point is VENT AWAY BABY!!! LOL

I will smell the babys head for you, its a womans obssesion I think! Mine is there - feet.... I LOVE baby's feet, even when they smell a little its wonderful!!! LOL

goatgirl said...

Heidi, I bet you're right. She may not have seen it as the gift I had intended. And thatnks for smelling the babies head. I do like their feet to though. If a mom hands me her baby the first thing I do is pull of it's bootie and look at it's feet. I do love babies.

Danni said...

Ha! I do that, too. I *love* baby feet! :-)

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

I don't know why, but when you first mentioned to me that you decided to give your special chicks away, it didn't feel right. Somehow, very bad.

I read between the lines and could feel how disappointed you were for having to give your chicks away, and you seemed to be trying to convince yourself in writing that it was a good thing.

I think you truly knew in your heart, or maybe gut instinct, that things weren't 'right'.

Oh dear. I can only say how sorry I am, especially for the terrible demise of those poor feathered babies. How thoughtless of her to allow that to happen, not only once, but 2 more times.

And then to add insult to injury, to just give away that poor, last lonely chick to someone other than you!

Was this her first time raising chickens? It sure seems like it.

Anyone that has bought, fed, nursed, cared, and protected their chickens from day 1 or 2, all the way up to the laying of those first eggs, knows how much work, time and love is devoted to each and every chicken.

I used to wonder why a 4 month old pullet cost $8-$15.00, when they were only a dollar or two as chicks.

I know now. Chickens are not cheap. Alot of time and money (and feed) is put into them that first year.

How callous, unthoughtful, and disrespectful to you and to life....that neighbor of yours is.

It just makes me seething mad and sick inside.
As you know, I have a special place in my heart for the heritage breed Speckled Sussex. They are one of the tamest and gentlest chickens I've ever been around. We just love our two and would have a whole coop full, if I'd have known before we ordered our chicks.

I'm so sorry. I know how special those chicks were to you. ((((HUGS)))

goatgirl said...

twinville, thanks for understanding. We have a lot in common I think.
Yes the neighbor had raised chickens before. Lots of years of chickens. She is the one that has all the incubators and brooders that I have borrowed over the years (which is why I wanted to gift her these chicks) She has a gorgeous chicken facility and lots of knowledge so this really puzzles me that she wouldn't do something after she lost the first one.
The Speckled Sussex were beautiful, just starting to speckle out and the Light Brahmas had the kindest eye for a chicken. They would climb all over me but the funny thing is that she said they were always afraid of her. Go figure.
I need to come up with something else to write about and lay this to rest. I love how supportive my blogging friends have been to let me vent. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Oh my! I wished you weren't across the country, because I would surely share some of my flock with you. We are overflowing.
I told my husband it always seems like the animals I get most attached to are the ones most likely to be attacked.
Just maybe your neighbor will think of you next spring and replace them with new biddies.
I like positive thinking too!
Have a good weekend.
Pam

goatgirl said...

Thanks Pam. I would love to come visit your beautiful Georgia farm. Not just for biddies but to see the waterwheel.....and Jack of course. Oh I can't forget Annie.

sugarcreekstuff said...

So sorry about the chicks.
I sadly learned the "no good deed goes unpunished" this past week. Live and learn I guess.

goatgirl said...

sugarcreekstuff, Yeah I sensed that you had gone through something too but you didn't spread it all around like I did:) You were much more mature about it.
But we must keep positive and believe that our intentions are good no matter how it turns out. I'm glad you came by.

sugarcreekstuff said...

goatgirl, you are a kind and thoughtful lady. I'm still in a bit of a funk about my good deed gone bad but helping when I can is who I am and obviously who you are. I find it a good quality and we should stay true to ourselves even if it bites us every now and then.

Anonymous said...

I would feel the same way. Why didn't the lady give the chicken back to you?!?

I'm not sure if I agree with your husband's philosophy but I say alot, "lesson learned and don't do it again".