BY SHERRI GOODALL
Jackson the Boxer was adopted in 2015 from Oklahoma Boxer Rescue. His alert gaze and tilt of the head suggests he’s waiting for a command. He is sweet beyond sweet.
YET, HIS WHOLE LIFE CHANGED about a year ago when he lost his best friend Durant, a tea-cup Chihuahua (named after Kevin Durant)—no playmate, no dining buddy, no companion for all the things dogs do together.
Then, to make matters worse, his people moved to a new home with lots of acreage. Now, Jackson was truly out of sorts, with no familiar markers or playmates.
In the meantime, his people decided that if they were truly going to farm their new land, they needed to go to a tractor shop and check out all the necessary equipment (remember “Green Acres”?). The trip to the tractor shop would prove to be exactly what Jackson needed.
Did they come home with a tractor? No, they came home with nine baby chicks!
At first, everyone was nervous about Jackson being around the clutch of chicks. Would he attack them? Would he want to eat them? On the contrary, Jackson “adopted” them and has become their protector through every stage of their development. (One adoption deserves another.)
While the clutch of chicks was in the heated
trough, Jackson hovered over them. Once they hopped out, Jackson’s career really took off. He would pop the chicks back into the trough, seemingly knowing how many were there as if he were counting—watchful and alert.
He now had a purpose in life.
Once the chicks got bigger, they transitioned to a wire pen outside.
Jackson’s new duties as sentry and guard included gently pushing the chicks back into the pen when they tried to crawl under and out. He circled continually to make sure no one snuck out the back door. Obviously, Jackson is a busy boy. When tired, he would curl up next to the pen and take a nap.
On sunny days, Jackson would stretch out on the warm driveway where he could keep an eye on the chicks. He still performed his laps around the pen to make sure all were accounted for.
The chicks, by now, were very used to Jackson and, in fact, became buddies, coming up to the wire just so Jackson could nuzzle them. Perhaps they imprinted on Jackson as their mother hen!
Now that the brood is grown, they roam freely on the acreage as true “free-range” chickens.
The acreage is fenced, but Jackson has to make sure none of his charges escape through the fence to the neighbors.
At night, Jackson helps herd the chickens back into their pen, and then his day is done, only to be repeated at sunrise the next morning.
Jackson, the gentle giant, is the official brood guard. If strangers come visit, Jackson is out on the range with the chickens, watching and making sure they are safe.■
