Mother Clucker

Have you raised 10 children? Successfully? All at the same time?   Well, Mother Clucker has, twice, and she has a few things to share about parenting success.

First, she would like you to know, "no body touches my babies."  If you think a mama bear is vicious, you should see Mother Clucker in action. She was a born mama and had a 100% hatch rate from 10 eggs her first go around. She worked hard to get them out of the shell and SHE WILL CUT YOU if you mess with her babies. For real. Cut. You.  Want to successfully raise bitties? Protect them with everything you have.

Second, Mother Clucker doesn't care if that's her baby or not. Same rules apply. Chick lost it's mom? My baby now, and loved just the same. I added a fluffy butt from an incubator batch to Mother Clucker's brood this year and she didn't flinch. She didn't for a moment think, oh, this one is a different color or has different shaped eyes and therefore it's not my problem. No, she took that baby in and guess what? She will cut you over that baby too.

"Look but don't touch."

Third, Mother Clucker doesn't spare the rod. Chicks get out of line and boom, pecked on the head. She isn't a big talker, but boy do those chicks listen. I'm pretty sure where good moms are concerned, it's best for bitties to have a healthy dose of fear of the wrath of mom lest their errant ways get them picked off by a hawk. Or get a pile of feathers plucked out if they can't learn their place in the flock...a truly painful lesson no one wants to learn the hard way because they didn't learn it at an early age.

Fourth, Mother Clucker has a warm spot for her babies. Always. Scared, cold, shy, tired bitties always have a safe spot under her wing. I've heard that saying so many times, "taken under her wing."  If you've never seen this play out in real life, you can't appreciate the affection a mother hen has for her bitties. Also, see "first."  She might have one or two standing on her back, running around making a bunch of racket, or playing how far can I go before I get pecked on the head but you can rest assured, when life gets tough, those babies run for Mama.

Sometimes I wonder why people can't have half the character animals have. What more could a mother or person want someone to say about them than what I've observed about Mother Clucker. I certainly hope that despite a few pecks on the head here and there, my kids always know when the world is too much to handle, there's always a warm spot under my wing.

The Most Desirable Kind of Cock

***Dated post - written months before actually posting**

All the talk this week has been about Miley Cyrus and her performance on the VMA's. There was one particular blog, however, that for me hit the ball out of the park about the topic, however. Matt Walsh wrote this about the subject: "Dear Son, don't let Robin Thick be a lesson to you" here http://themattwalshblog.com/2013/08/28/dear-son-dont-let-robin-thicke-be-a-lesson-to-you/  This is the perspective that I felt was glaringly missing until then. In his blog, he says: "A man is defined by how he treats women, by how he keeps his promises, and by how he protects and serves the ones he loves." 

The number of analogies relating chickens and people are seemingly endless, a good majority of them directly related to men and roosters.  But the one comparison not usually made is what makes a desirable cock also, in some cases, makes a desirable man.

Meet Uncle Clucker, a Brahma Roo.  UC is a young fellow, born in May of last year, but as the oldest rooster, he has taken on the role of head of the flock.   I get asked a lot, "if hens lay eggs without roosters, why do you have one?"  Well, my friends, draw all the analogies you want here; that is a good question. Even from a young age, UC innately knew his responsibilities to the flock.  Roosters are notoriously known as fierce protectors. I often see UC standing at attention, an eye to the sky on the lookout for dangers while the hens peacefully, and seemingly oblivious to the possibility of predators, hunt and scratch. He's a good guy and that means he looks out for his hens, and they depend on him for protection. 

Above during a rainstorm allowing all the ladies shelter while standing guard.

He's also the mediator. Sometimes the girls squabble and flare and get pecky at one another.  When UC sees these confrontations, he's there at the ready to break it up.  In his own gentle but firm way, he gets between them as if to say, come on now, can't we just get along?  A good Roo keeps the peace. 

And of course, a big part of having a rooster is to have fertile eggs to perpetuate the flock. While this may seem like a natural role that comes easy to the male of any species, many roosters are culled and destroyed because they are too rough, some even so violent in copulating that they break the backs of the hens. Not only is UC doing his duty, he's doing it in a way that doesn't harm. And once the new baby chicks arrive, he's part of that too...he doesn't take off to pursue his own interests but is integral in the health and wellbeing of all the members of his flock family. Uncle Clucker isn't going anywhere. He has a vested interest.

Nature has a lot to to teach us not just about survival, but about living together harmoniously in our uniquely gender defined roles. In a society where pop culture celebrates denigrating others, fathers are abandoning their families instead of protecting their hearts, and promiscuity is valued over service to others, it's not surprising to see that we aren't thriving. We are existing, but our lives could be so  much richer if we remembered the things chickens haven't forgotten. "Men are loyal. Men are honest. Men respect and honor women. A man goes out and finds one woman, and he vows to protect and love her for the rest of his life. A man would never betray that vow."  Well said, Mr. Walsh.

Chickens Change You, Man

It could be argued that a small flock of birds changed my life forever.  That they brought the most deep kind of joy and heartbreak.  I have wanted chickens for a good part of my adult life and finally got my first flock in February of 2012.  Since that time, several friends have also joined the crazy chicken owners club and have shared in the same observation - Chickens Change You, Man.

Like a girl begs her parents for a pony, I had begged my husband for years to let me have chickens. Free range eggs for our special needs son's diet, I said. Compost for the garden, I pitched. No more ticks, I begged. Really, I couldn't explain my need to have them, I just knew I needed them.  One day, an unexpected opportunity came along. A deal even he couldn't pass up - a free chicken coop with 12 adult hens of varying breeds. All we had to do was come get them.  The husband finally relented and after an entire Saturday of hard work, I had my very own chickens in the back yard.

I was instantly enamored.  Instead of Yoga, I meditated by flipping over bricks and watching them eat bugs. I watched them for hours.  My son and I learned how to catch and hold them.  They replaced my fiction reading hobby when I joined an online community and began reading everything I could to learn about feed, egg production, parasites, behavior. I read ALL the chicken things. They were more than a hobby to me...they were a post apocalyptic life skill.

Little did I know that the following November, my husband would decided to leave our family.  And while the reasons are much more complex that chickens alone, looking back I see that becoming a chicken owner changed me. One night during a heated argument, my love for them led me to say something that I believe ultimately ended my marriage: "You will have to choose.  You can choose to let me have animals and be happy, or you can choose to ask me give them up and I will be forever unhappy."

That ending became a new beginning and here I am.  Thus begins this blog.