The McKeefer Canyon Chicken Round Up
by Mike Moutoux, Western Entertainer & Cowboy Poet

On a little piece of ground outside the town of Silver City
They were getting by on what folks called a squatter’s spread
Pa raised beef like his neighbors but then discovered chickens
Were a better way to keep his family fed

He had gone to take delivery of two hundred pure white hens
Got them loaded on the back of his old truck
He was almost home and tried to cross a flooded creek
And there in McKeefer Canyon, Pa got stuck

He claims he would have made it out until the sand began to shift
Which caused the truck to sway and lose its captive load
Dad saw disaster, but the chickens saw bright freedom
As the crates broke on the ground, well, out they goed!

There was nothing he could do but walk home mad and empty handed
While his chickens discovered what freedom’s all about
They debated the issues and had themselves a vote
And decided it was best to just spread out

When the man returned to pull out his truck he was upset to find
That he may never know just where his poultry went
It seemed that while they voted they became Republican
As they seemed inclined against big government

Soon the truck was out, but without a single chicken left in sight
Just white feathers clinging to the scattered mesquite thorns
As Dad surveyed the loss, two cowboys happened by
Smiling at the scene from behind their saddle horns

Like the heroes cowboys are, they both agreed to lend a hand
A chicken round-up after all, might be a lot of fun
They learned then, pretty quick, that the birds could hardly fly
But when pressed ---they could stretch their necks and run!

And the horses seemed to like the game; it’s challenges just right
Rounded up the pullets like they’d done it all before
Now and then, they’d let one by on purpose it would seem
So they could chase the crazy bird a little more

Horse snorted, chickens squawked, and all the men were laughing
With churned up dust and feathers swirling everywhere
Folks that used the road that week would swear that someone’s kids
Had had themselves a pillow fight out there

Dad thanked the cowboys for their help when the last of the birds were caught
Invited them for supper and saw the gleam in their eyes
“Well, I’ve seen the boogers run,” says one, “so I might come
If you’ll promise not to serve me any thighs.”

The Mckeefer Canyon Chicken Round-Up it was called and to this day
The families out there remember it and smile
Claimed coyotes there all starved to death looking for the birds
‘Cause the feathers floated round there quite awhile