Thursday, December 2, 2010

"...Like A Chicken with It's Head Cut Off"

After watching the recent CMA Award show several weeks ago, I now have a new favorite musical group.  Lady Gaga and The Black Eyed Peas have been replaced with the Zac Brown Band.  They sang a song called, "Don't Be Fallin' In Love While She's Walkin' Away" or something like that.  I decided to check into some more of their music.  One song in particular was about some chickens wandering around the yard and a mean little dog getting after it. (You gotta be from the country to understand this kinda stuff)

 While listening to "Sic 'Em On A Chicken", I was reminded of growing up in the country and seeing my Grandmother catch a chicken in the back yard for supper.  Grasping the chicken by the head and with a couple of quick twists she would pop the heamd off the chicken.  The chicken would then run around the yard for a short time until it fell over and before you knew it we were arguing over who got to eat the "pully bone".

I remember a story my Grandmother used to tell me about my Dad when he was a boy growing up in the country.  There was (probably still is) a disease in chickens called the "limberneck". The chickens lose control of their neck muscles and can't hold their heads up and walk around with their head hanging down.  They would eventually die from this, but more often were quickly culled from the healthy chickens.

While washing the dishes  and looking out the window she saw some of the chickens were walking around with their heads hanging down.  Concerned that they had the limberneck and she was going to have to destroy numerous Sunday dinners, she went outside to investigate.  When she went behind the barn, she found my Dad catching the chickens and trying to "wring their neck" as he had seen Grandmother do many times.  Being just a tot all he was doing was straining their necks.   I don't remember all of the story, but I am pretty sure he got a whoopin'

Corporal punishment was pretty popular back then.

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