Lu Shin raised chickens and sold the eggs, mostly to members of his motorcycle club. All of a sudden, his chickens began losing their feathers—and they didn’t lay eggs either. He called on the two men who had mentored him when he began his egg business. Hing was an agricultural specialist, a poultry expert with a string of degrees after his name. Ming was a traditional Chinese medical practitioner who knew the ancient lore about keeping birds healthy.
Lu Shin’s former mentors were happy to ride out to the farm to inspect the flock of chickens. Neither of them recognized whatever it was that was making the hens drop their feathers.
Hing went to the University library, where he found a recent study that showed that gum-leaf tea would prevent feather loss in chickens. Ming cast the I Ching sticks and pored over ancient manuscripts. Just before he went to sleep that night, he had an inspiration—gum tea! That would cure those chickens.
The two mentors rode their motorcycles out to Lu Shin’s farm and told him what they’d found. He tried the cure, but day after day went by with no change. All of Hing’s courses and all of Ming’s ken couldn’t get gum tea to feather a hen.
Yet, there’s no denying it: Unless you plan to ride exclusively around the Southern United States, you’ll face some chilly winters. And even before it...
