Even chickens know....

   Somehting happened this morning that may seem like an ordinary thing ( for a farmer)  but in all actuality is something very miraculous.  I did not plan on posting today ( I have garage sale items that need to be priced : / ) but I had to share.  We have chickens, in case you didn't know, and pigs and rabbits and a turkey, and etc....We also like to hatch our own chics. We have a very broody hen named Jenny who is a wonderful Mama but also a mean son-of-a-gun. If you have never seen a broody hen beofre, it is one of the scariest things you will ever see. Just try and take an egg from her.  Her pupils dilate and she puffs up and makes horrifying screeching squak-like sounds and will peck the heck out of you.  She is the meanest to Ryan, I think because he is a man. Funny thing, before she went broody, Ryan and her were the best of friends, and she would climb on is back and stuff.  Sounds like a typical woman, now she just pecks him if he gets to close.   Anyways, she is a fierce mother though.  We had another hen get broody but was not good at protecting her young..the chics she hatched unfortunatley fell prey to a snake.  We have since defeated these snakes...thats an interesting story as well.  Never thought my butt would go after a snake before , but I did, and prevailed, thats another story though.
       Anyways, Jenny is the most amazing mother I have seen in nature. This hen has hatched numerous chics. She lays on them faithfully for 21 days straight, she does not move from her spot. We put the food and water right next to her so she doesnt get too undernourished.  Its kind of gross but she will not even move far to releive herself. That is how devoted she is too theses soon-to-be chics. We could all learn a lesson from Jenny. After 21 days they hatch and she teaches them everything. Eventully we let them all wander around and peck and scavenge like free range chickens do.  She guards her babies and messes up any other chickens who get to close.   Then when the time is right..she makes them go their own way.  All of her chics take a piece of her personality with her. The funny thing is, Jenny sits on multiple eggs, only one is usually hers, we put about a dozen eggs  under her that we have gathered from other hens. She lays on and raises all of them, The best part is the different breeds of chickens. Each new chic has aspects of their biological mother, but they all end up with Jenny's strong will, seriously.  What a testament to an adoptive mother. This however, is not what I wanted to share with you all today, even though it is a wonderful example of adoptive love.  It reminds me of this verse, "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"   (Matthew 6:26)  The adoptive love of the Father is reflected even in this chicken ! Just imagine how he takes care of us.  For real y'all !
  Anyways, back to what I wanted to share.  Jenny has been sitting on eggs and they started hatching yesterday.   We just kind of leave her to her thing and check on her everynow and then, more out of curiosity ( just can't resist watching chics hatch, cutest thing ever) because she really has it handled.  This morning before leaving for work, I wen tto check on the chics and Jenny. A chic was in the corner of the pen and appeared like it had died. It had somehow left the warmth of Jenny(newly hatched chics have to stay warm) and could not make it back and was curled up in a corner.  It breaks your heart a little. jenny wa sstill busy hatching eggs so for some reason couldnt get his little buy back to her.  I went to pick the chic up to get it out of their and it moved a little. It moved so little that iwas not sure if I was seeing things.  I held it in my hand, it was limp and lifeless.  Did not appear to be breathing.  I did not just want to dispose of it because I swear I thought it had moved.  It was very cold to touch. I rubbed it and tried to stimulate it , with no response.  As a last effort, but with high hopes. I decided to put what seemed like a lifeless, limp chic under Jenny, thinking maybe the warmth will help.  I placed the lifeless chic directly under Jenny , almost being squished by the other chics and eggs still hatching and left for work.

    I came home about 4 hours later.  I went to check on the chicks.  All I could see were healthy chicks. I counted to make sure my numbers were correct. The few hours of warmth and touch of the Mama han completely revived the little chick that was as good as dead earlier.  You can not even tell a difference between him and the other chicks.  This simply amazing to me. You guys, human children need this warmth and touch and love. Institutionalized children do not get this very basic need of physical touch and warmth. This kills baby chicks...just imagine what it is doing to 153 million orphans. Without love, and touch these children literally do not grow.  It is amazing to see the before and after pictures of children before they were adopted when they are in the orphanage and just 6 months later when they are home in a forever, loving family.  I was able to get in contact with a woman who adopted from the same orphanage that "Nick" is in and she met him. She told me that he was very small but precious and loving.  I can't wait to see how much he will grow when we get him home.