The morning was filled with the warmth of summer in late July. Anticipating the freshness of the day, the flock was noisy, calling for their freedom. I pulled opened their door, and quickly, hens rambled outside. Opening the “people” door, I heard that familiar little sound. Although, somewhat muffled, it was undeniable. Peering into the brooder, my eyes landed on the source of the high pitched “peep peep peeep”……
…she would have been easy to miss, as she quickly hid in the warmth of Mama Chardonnay’s wings. Out of seven eggs, she was the only one to hatch.
The baby chick quickly grew, and became her mama hen’s little shadow. Chardonnay shared all of her food with the chick, always allowing her to eat first. She has always been such a good Mama Hen.
Mama and Chick catching some rays.
She grew, and grew.
Corn has always been one of her most favorite things.
Free ranging everyday, she diligently followed Chardonnay, listening, watching, imitating, and learning. She became well integrated into the flock, and was rarely chased or pecked at by the older hens.
As is the danger of growing up in the middle of a farm – forest, predators are a real threat when feathers cover your body. The flock works hard to safeguard themselves against these threats, and they do very well. Sometimes their efforts, and our efforts are not enough. Something attacked our littlest hen.
The undeniable evidence.
I found the evidence yesterday morning…I’m not sure if it happened Saturday evening, or Sunday morning. Usually, I count the flock to make sure everyone made it into their house for the night…I didn’t do that Saturday night. I don’t remember specifically seeing her come out of their house on Sunday morning, but nothing alerted my conscious thoughts to her absence. In any case, she is gone…I wish I knew what got her!
It’s that circle of life thing. The flock knew it and were on high alert all day, hiding underneath things..running from cover to cover to change locations. They felt the loss, and the danger. This is the life of a free ranging chicken. There are real dangers, and in spite of that, there is real freedom….and sometimes, if I catch it just right, I think I can see them smiling!
Sorry little girl!!
There are definite life lessons that occur in nature, look for them, they’re there.
Thanks for walking through nature with me today.
Your friend from Oregon,
Tami
Build Me a Dream 
Comments on: "The Littlest Hen" (5)
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I know!!!! BTW…chickens are a lot of fun….a bit messy, but fun!! If you keep on top of the poop…the rest is easy!!
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Ha! I can’t wait for chickens. There is already a coop on our place……tho it hasnt been used in probably 25-30 years. I am excited to fix it up.
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And we lost two goats this week. Coyotes……brutal…..they were not actually ours (our three were spared). A friend had brought them over so we could work our dog with a bigger herd. Thankfully they are good friends with over a hundred goats…..so they understood. Goats are like chickens……kinda low on the food chain. We were all sad tho…..my kids were devestated. So now the goats sleep in the horse barn……. 🙂
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I’m sorry about your goats…that is terrible!! I would not like to find that evidence, piles of feathers are difficult enough. I’m glad they’re safe in the horse barn…I was wondering if goats needed to be confined inside at night…your story answered that question.
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