Smart Animalsonherthenextday,bossy-boots
Redhadpushedherasideand
wasclumsilysittingontheeggs–
insteadofallbeingtuckedfirmly
underneathher,a coupleofthem
hadslippedoutthesides.
WepickedRedupandputBertha
backontheeggs.Butassoonasour
backswereturned,Redwouldbe
exertingherauthorityagain.Once
shehadshownBerthawhowas
boss,she’dbebackoutside,letting
theeggsfendforthemselves– which
theydidn’tdoverywell.Whenthe
waterdragonsgota whiff,theytook
one,thenanother.Twoleft.
Witha fewweekstogobeforethe
remainingeggswereduetohatch,
wetriedkeepinga closereyeon
thehenhouse.Butyetanotherwas
stolen.Oneeggleft!
Happily,thenextmorning
wefounda fluffylittlechickwith
twomothers.
Ittakesa fewweeksbefore
chicksshowtheirsex.Wehadour
collectivefingerscrossedthatit
wouldbea girl.Thechick’syellow
feathersgraduallyturnedwhite,and
it grewuntilit wasthesamesize
asitsmothers.Wewerehopeful.
Butwitheachday,thechickwas
showingsignsofaggressionwe
hadn’tseeninourgirls.That
madeusa littlenervous.
Then,abouta weekor
solater,wewerewoken
earlyonemorningtoa ‘cock-a-
doodle-doo’. Our best efforts togive
Berthaa chanceofmotherhoodhad
produceda rooster,whichwethen
hadtopay$20tothenurserywhere
weboughtthe eggs to take him off
ourhands.TheSecret’s Out
JUDITHFRENDA
Whenmysonfounda strayblack
catunderourhousetenyearsago,
wetookherinafterwe’dfailed
tolocateherowner.Weassumed
shewasfemaleastherewereno
obviousmalefeatures.Atfirst,
wenamedherElanora,which
waslaterchangedtoa friendly
nickname,EllaBella.
Someyearslater,wewerehaving
a cuppaonthebackdeckandElla
Bellajoinedus.Wewatchedher
assherolledontoherbacktoget
a bitofsunonherbelly.Wewere
admiringherblack,velvetystomach
whenEllaBellarevealedhertrue
self.Toouramazement,werealised
thatEllawasactuallya male.
Oncemore,shewasrenamed.No
longer Ella Bella but ELLA FELLA!17