What Chickens Have Taught Me About Parenting
Dear reader, I got chickens this year.
They have a giant coop - we turned the single-car garage into the coop, next to a substantial run and a little connection my husband made so they can just waddle from one to another. This addition he made has a 4 foot fence. So they’re not free range - I feel we have just way too many barn cats, big dogs, birds of prey, foxes and more for that to be a reality for the flock. I figured they’d live 15 minutes if they’re free range. They get their food, water, perches, boxes, treats, ice treats and more. What more, beyond those walls, could you possibly need?
Cue 2 Rhode Island Reds. They jump the fence - multiple times a day. The first couple times it happened I’d run out there, push ‘em into a corner to catch them, and toss them back over the fence. For some reason it never occurred to me that if they hopped over from one side, they could do it from the other side too.
What the fate of the birds is, I don’t know, especially as the cats are becoming more aware of their existence and the birds are getting braver and braver going into unchartered territory. But as I sat outside working while they were making their escape, it dawned on me that I was witnessing correlations between my parenting and my chickens. Yikes.
#1 - Sometimes the grass really is greener, but with determination comes significant risk. How badly do you want it?
#2 - If you really want it, do it, but bring a friend and have somewhere safe you can retreat to when you need sustinence or comfort.
#3 - Watch your back, you never know who is watching.
#4 - You can give them all the safety in the world, they’re still going to go their own way.
#5 - Believe in their abilities, you don’t always have to swoop in to save them.
#6 - You never completely forget once they go out that they may be at, you’ll always be more aware of the dangers they face.
#7 - You may do everything in your power and they may still go the total opposite direction
#8 - Give them a safe place to come home to.
And to note, yes, I know there are ways to prevent the hops over the fence and we are planning to do something :)