Snow Day & Bullied Chicks

And so it begins. Several inches of snow fell today, and we brought 2 little chicks home from the store.

We went for some groceries and rabbit food…and added 2 chicks, chick feed, and medicine for their little butts to an already-stretched-too-thin weekly budget. We didn’t plan for chicks yet. They were on the spring list, and they are in the local feed stores, but our new chicken house is not complete. We vowed to get everything in order before getting birds, so we wouldn’t be scrambling and improvising.

Even though everyone is anxious and gearing up for spring, we are still having cold weather, and we wanted to be set up and ready before we bought chickens. We have made too many impulse buys over the years, only to make so much more work for ourselves. This year would be different. This is the year of purposeful planning and efficiently marching toward our dreams.

Then we have to go gawking at the baby chicks, like everyone does, exclaiming how cute they are….and see two being pecked relentlessly. Their butts are completely raw. In case you don’t know, chickens will peck each other to death. Literally.

So next thing you know, we are headed home with two little bleeding chicks in a cardboard box, chicken feed, rabbit feed, and a few groceries.

Chicks in the dining room. So there’s that.🤷‍♀️

I thought I’d introduce you to Tip and Top, the first two hens to kick off our chicken farming endeavors. We’ve had chickens many times before, but our plans are to go bigger than ever. And we’re starting with two little gals that need doctoring and special attention. And we’re starting in the dining room. 😳
Somehow, I think it’s fitting, because it’s not what we planned, but it’s so very US.

As I write, a winter wonderland of white rests outside, the wind whistles down the chimney, and two little purple butt chicks are sleeping soundly in a guinea pig cage atop my husband’s antique stove in the dining room. A heat lamp turns their world into a warm and cozy paradise, but the window beside the cage offers them a view of winter’s last show-off (I hope) before spring officially begins.
If they look out the other side of their cage, they may see a curious hound dog looking back at them. (Hence the barricade.)

More chicks. In the house. Because why not, right? 🤦‍♀️

UPDATE: This was the story of how our flock began, on a snowy day with 2 little half-dead chicks. It was actually a year ago, and I did it again before the year was out. It snowed again and I brought home more chicks! Apparently that’s a thing with me.

So my chick flock moved from the dining room into the spare room, from a guinea pig cage to a giant plastic tub. Tip and Top made friends with 4 Australorps and 4 Barred Rock hen chicks, and so far, they are living their happily ever after.

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Lessons from a chicken coop. 🐥

Chickens are notorious for pecking at a wound. When one becomes injured, the others will peck it literally to death. Tip and Top would most likely not have lived another day in that crowded little tub at the feed store. They were being chased relentlessly by the other chicks. They would have continued to peck at each other as well, even after we brought them home, had we not colored their little bottoms with purple medicine.

I have often found lessons abound in the barnyard.

How often have we focused on someone’s ‘flaw’ or imperfection or failure, so narrow-mindedly that we cease to see anything else about them? How often do we peck each other to death? Maybe not literally, but to the point of despair and depression.

If you are guilty of focusing on the imperfections of others, I challenge you to look for the positive in others, just the way you’d want them to do for you. We all fall short, we all fail, we all need encouragement.

You may just be surprised at how much better you will feel when you begin to look for the beauty in others, forgive yourself, and look toward the future instead of dwelling on the past. New behavior isn’t learned overnight, so give yourself grace as you learn to love yourself and the people around you.

Or maybe you feel as hopeless and surrounded as my two little chicks.

If you feel like the world is relentlessly pursuing you to the point of your destruction, perhaps you’re not surrounding yourself with the right people. Or perhaps you are allowing their words and their actions to define who you are. Don’t let others decide your fate. Don’t give up on yourself. Remember that a change of environment, or change of direction or change in who you’re listening to, can be a purple balm to the soul.

Take a lesson from my little hens and let’s all be kinder to one another.

And believe in a new day and new beginnings.