I can always tell it is late spring and early summer when I visit the local feed and seed store, but not for the reasons you are probably thinking. Yes, you will find parents and grandparents selecting their favorite seeds and garden supplies; but the true sign of spring and early summer is where the children are, gawking over the baby chicks. I am like those kids, I have to go check out all the baby chicks, turkeys, and ducks. After raising thousands and thousands of chicks, I am still  amazed by those little balls of down. They are so trusting and soft that you just want to hold one. Regardless of their age, most people are still amazed by the wonder of new life.

Since late spring is the traditional time for raising chicks and starting a backyard flock, this is a great time to write the article Robin has been encouraging me to do. So here goes my attempt to "peck" out a few lines about the amazing world of chickens. Since most farms do not hatch their own chickens we turn to the next best thing, a commercial hatchery. It is the most unnatural thing to do when you order your chicks by catalogue, telephone, or internet, but it is reminiscent of my childhood days with the Sears and Roebucks Christmas Wish Book. I could spend hours looking at the different breeds and their different traits. Once you finally select the breed you want,  you place the order and anxiously await a call from the Post Office. Yes, I said the Post Office. Baby chicks are shipped from the hatchery within a few hours of hatching. And the US Postal Services actually plays the role of the stork with the local employees calling you at 6:00 AM saying, "Your baby chicks are here." Could this be where the image of the stork wearing the postal cap comes from? Like all excited parents, we run to get our babies and place them warmly into their nursery, the brooder. In the brooder , they are kept them warm, dry, watered and well feed; while we and our children hold those cute little balls of down several times a day. Just like little children, they quickly grow up and the down is replaced feathers and they get to fast too catch; then they are ready to leave the nest. Does it sound as if raising chicken is a lot like human life? Well it is, let me explain about the life lessons I have learned from chickens.

Life is always better when you are living as the Creator planned. If you watch our chickens leave their house for the first time, you would swear that you can see them smile. They stare, eat grass, bugs, play in the dirt, and stretch their wings. They are not confined to cages nor do they have to live their whole life never experiencing the wonders of the outdoors. They are fulfilling their purpose in life, which is to produce high quality food while getting to truly be a chicken.

Chickens love their routines and hate change. They like their house opened at dawn every morning, their eggs gathered and feeder filled at the same time every day, and to roost for the night at dusk. Change the chicken's schedule and they are all messed up. Move the chicken's house more than a few feet and you send their world into chaos. One time I decide to move about 100 birds from a large house to a smaller one to make room for a new flock. Since the new house was less than 100 feet away, I decided to herd them to their new residence. All went well and they were moved quickly. I watched them go in and out of the new house, eating and drinking just fine. Their new home had more room to roost and overall was better for them. That evening I came out to close the house and not a single chicken had roosted in the new house. All were piled up as close to the old house as possible.    To them this was not their home, their home was the old home. I had to catch each one and place them in their new home. I then realized that they need to stay in their new home for three or four days to adjust. I guess change takes time, whether you are a chicken or human.

Chickens do not like to share and are the most jealous things, next to humans, on the farm. If one chicken has something the others believe that they must take it away, no matter what the cost is. Let one chicken catch a bug or lizard and all the others will jump to take it away. You can almost hear them say "It's mine," "No its mine," or "If I can't have it no one will." I can't decide if they are more like pre-school children, corporate America, or our political parties fighting for power. On a hot day when they are drinking a lot the birds will actually jump on top of each other to get the water. This causes the water to shut off to the fountains, so no chicken gets water. They cannot grasp the idea of patience and waiting for your turn. The only thing worst I have seen  is Wal-mart on the day after Thanksgiving. I bet you can relate to that!

I guess I like chickens so much because it does remind me of the best and worst in life. If we, as humans, could learn to embrace change because it usually brings about good things as long as we let it. If we could learn to share our resources with our flock, or community, we could take care of those in need. If we could learn to not to be jealous of what our neighbors have, we could learn to be happy with what we have. If we learned to live in the joy of fulfilling the Creator's purpose maybe we could smile a little more. And maybe then we could truly enjoy the new life that we are given each day. I never knew I could learn so much from a chicken!

Raising heritage turkeys presents a lot of challenges and is costly, but there is something delicious and satisfying about eating a fresh bird that was allowed to grow and thrive as turkeys were naturally meant to do. They have been allowed to live as God planned for them. To see a beautiful flock of tom turkeys spread their tail feathers, hold out their wings and strut around is spectacular. To hear our customers talk about their wonderful meal and the pleasure they shared with their family is gratifying. But isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about? Thanking God for how He has blessed our hard labors and sharing your bounty with family and friends. It makes it all worth it!