When you choose to live with chickens (or with any other living creatures), you choose to embrace life as it comes at you.
Let’s face it, life is real. Life is also not fair. Things die, they get hurt, and chicks move away and then don’t come home for Thanksgiving (ahem.) It can all be very painful, but in the end, life moves forward.
It always does. It’s the way things are supposed to be, it’s just that when you choose to share your life with others, it gets amplified.
Again and again.
Storm, our injured chick is strong enough now to spend her days outdoors in what we call the “baby playpen” we move her bantam sisters in with her during the day so that they can all eat and play uninterrupted from the evil pecking step-sisters of the flock. At night, Storm still sleeps in a protected cage inside our house.
I’ve inspected her bum and although she might have some tearing with the first egg or two (I’ll be there for her if she does), she is pretty much healed.
So amidst the death of one, we have the continued health and recovery of another.
Life’s like that.
Far too often it’s tragic and at times unbearable, and when you think you can’t stand it for one more moment, you turn around and a chicken who a few weeks ago, you weren’t even sure was going to live, sees you coming and runs up to greet you with a cheery “good morning.”
A very healthy Storm
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
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