Although chickens can function well without one, most hens very much appreciate having access to a nesting box when it’s time to lay their eggs. It’s where the ladies go to literally produce what it is inside that is yearning to get out.
Quiet leads to focus and focus always leads to production.
Everyone needs a little space to call her own – it’s part of human nature and it’s also part of the creative process. I see it constantly in the hen house where if some of the birds don’t have immediate access to a nesting box they will, instead, improvise by using a hidden corner, an overhang in the rafters, or even an overturned bucket – whatever it takes to create that private little space to do what needs to get done.
Anyone who knows me, knows that this nesting-space force lives strong in me. For years I have been fascinated by tiny houses – not much more than bitty play things – my very own place that I could call mine.
It’s what has caused me to create a writing cave in the back of a storage room in my house. An area large enough (but just only) for a writing desk, reading chair, heater and lamp. My compulsion-to-create and I fit comfortably within its confines. Why, there’s even enough room for the dog; Pippin to sleep on a pillow by my feet (as long as he’s quiet.)
And like the chickens in our hen house, when I’m in my nesting box, I produce. On a daily basis. I get my articles written, my interviews conducted, and my goals for tomorrows made. I go into my little nest with plans of accomplishment and I never fail to come out of there, having focused undisturbed for hours, without a bright and shiny egg or two.
A tiny house withing my writer’s cave
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
