Barnyard Mayhem

It was five in the morning just before the sun goes up, Farmer Joe had a lot to do to get ready for the Farmers Market. He had to collect the milk from his dairy cows, collect eggs from his chickens. As he rose to the hen’s call he peeked through the kitchen window and to his amazement another animal was saying cock-a-doodle-doo. Farmer Joe scratched his head in confusion and thought to himself; “ I need to pinch myself, I must be dreaming”. So Farmer Joe pinched himself and rubbed his eyes but it wasn’t a strange dream.


The cat was on the fence acting like the morning hen. “This isn’t right”; he thought, but he decided to ignore the crazy cat and gather the dairy milk from his cows. As we he pumping the milk from his cows, his cows started too meow. The day was getting crazier by the minute. Farmer Joe was worried that this will affect the products they produce.

He went back to the house for lunch and said to himself, “ the cows are meowing, the cats are saying cock-a-doodle-doo and chickens are baaing. I need to get some help.” So as he sat down to eat his lunch a commercial came on which was the answer to his problems.

“Having trouble managing your pets? Are your animals acting strange? Then contact Dr. Jack Moss Animal Behavior Expert at 1-800-GET-HELP” the TV blared. Farmer Joe quickly picked up the phone and called the number on the TV.

“ Hello, Dr. Moss Animal Specialist Incorporated, How may I assist you?” the receptionist replied over the phone.

“Yes, my name is Farmer Joe Dunham. I live off of Clyde Boulevard, my animals are not acting right and I need help right away.” Farmer Joe answered back with a lump in his throat.

“ Okay, sir Dr. Moss will be over in an hour.” The receptionist said calmly.

“ Thank you, I will be waiting” Farmer Joe said. Farmer Joe hanged up the phone and started pacing up and down the hallway of his house. He just couldn’t wait to fix the problem so he could finish getting ready for the farmer’s market.

He looked at his watch when the doorbell rang “ Ding dong”. Farmer Joe opened the door; there stood a man with slicked back brown hair and a black suit on.

“ Hello sir, my name is Dr. Jack Moss; I was told that you are worried about your animals’ behavior.” Dr. Moss said with a grin.

“Yes my animals’ are acting like each other. The cat is acting like my morning hen, the cows are meowing and the chickens are baaing. I don’t know want to do. Can you please help me?” Farmer Joe answered.

“Yes I may be some help. Show me the animals” Dr. Moss replied calmly.

Farmer Joe took Dr. Moss to meet the animals. Dr. Moss listened to the animals for a while and tried to figure out what could be the cause of the problem.

“Did you have any help with caring for the animals at all?” Dr. Moss asked Farmer Joe Dunham.

“Yes, I hired this one guy on occasion to help me feed and groom the animals” Farmer Joe replied back.

“ Call him up and have him come over, I may have figured out why they are acting like they are” Dr. Moss said with a smile.

Farmer Joe went back to the house and called up his helper.

“Hello this is Jason Hickson speaking” Jason answered.

“Hi Jason, this is Joe Dunham, can you come over for a minute please.” Farmer Joe replied.

“Okay, I will be right over” Jason answered. Jason hanged up the phone and grabbed his belongings and headed over to Farmer Joe’s farm.

Within a few minutes Jason arrived at the farm. Farmer Joe explained what was going on and introduced him to Dr. Moss the animal expert.

“ Mr. Hickson, can you tell me what kind of food you fed the animals last night?” Dr. Moss asked nicely.

“Yes I can” Jason answered back. Jason showed the food to Dr. Moss and told him what animals got what.

“ That is the problem Mr. Dunham, your animals are eating each other’s food. Here is what I want you two to do: Make a list of each animal in the farm and put their food they eat next to their name. That should fix the problem. If they still are not acting right then here is my card and give me a call right a way” Dr. Moss said to Farmer Joe with a smile.

“Thank you so much for your help” Farmer Joe said as he shook Dr. Moss’s hand. Dr. Moss left to go back to his office and Jason and Farmer Joe went to work on the list. When they finished the list Jason left to go back home.

Farmer Joe finished preparing for the farmer’s market and headed to the town square to sell his products. After the market he went back to the barn and fed the animals’ their food and went to bed.

The following morning he awoke to the sunrise. He got up and made his breakfast. Out of curiosity, he peeked out of his kitchen window and saw the hen on the fence getting ready to crow. He finished his meal and went to the barn to milk the cows. Believe it or not the cows are mooing like normal. He decided to check on his chickens and collect their eggs. His chickens were not acting like sheep but like chickens. He threw a big sigh of relief and headed back to his house. From now on everything was back to being normal like it was before the barnyard mayhem happened.