So What is it Really Like Keeping Chickens – The Stuff the Books Don't Yell Ya
Hi my name is Lorraine Ireland and I am a Therapist so why am I writing about Chickens you may well ask – well from my own crazy emotional roller coaster ride of experiences, I now realise that chickens can bring about human personal development as we struggle to understand their world from the limitations of our own mind, beliefs and morals, they invite us to step out of our boundaries into unexplored dimensions. When we went to collect our 4 hens I was so excited as I had read 4 chicken books and knew everything I needed to know about keeping Chickens- OH Really??
The 1st Night in Chicken Ranch
After a tiring day watching Lacy, a beautiful blue laced Wyandotte bully the other 3 girls; very upsetting but part of the pecking order we got them all tucked up – Goodnight Ellie, Goodnight Jazz, Goodnight Skye, Goodnight Lacy xxxx We didn't sleep much that night it was like having 4 new babies.
Day 2 – Veil of Death following by Warmth of Summer
Lacy became sick overnight. She had a prolapsed vent, which don't worry is rare. Sadly she didn't survive – I was gutted and couldn't get poor Lacy out of my mind for days. We picked another girl for our hens and named her Summer.
OMG A Broody Hen
Ellie loved Summer – both Columbines and Skye loved Jazz – both Sussex Lights. YES the perfect family, just total love, peace and harmony in Chicken Ranch until one day Jazz lost the plot, head down wings puffed out screaming Bock, Bock, Bock, Bock none stop. Nothing prepares you for a broody hen. Skye was bereft and angry with Jazz for deserting her, we at first hadn't got a clue what was going on and thought she had gone crazy as she wouldn't let the other hens come near her without screaming or Bocking. She took to the nest big time, neglecting her own health and forgetting to eat or drink, which really worried me. I had to lift her from the nest box to eat and drink much to her resentment as she pecked me to warn me off. I searched for solutions. I put an onyx egg under her – disgusted she kicked it out. I was advised to cool her down by putting ice cubes under her belly, I hadn't got any, but I had some frozen sausage, which I wrapped in lots of kitchen roll, while I was waiting for the ice cubes to freeze. Believe me, a broody hen's tummy is red hot – within an hour she had defrosted the sausage and almost cooked them, so she was actually sitting on sausage and eggs – which made me laugh at the time.
3 Little Chicks
We couldn't stand to watch Jazz sitting on unfertilised eggs with nothing to show at the end, so we got her 4 fertilised eggs (Oprington Buffs). She was one happy mum to be – she would sit in a hypnotic trance or meditation for hours at a time and reminded me to meditate myself. 3 gorgeous chicks appeared 3 weeks later – we were in love. Jazz was a devoted mom, but the other hens disowned her and her chicks and wouldn't allow them back in the hen house – it broke our hearts when we saw mum and her babes huddled in the earth under the raised hen house, while the other 3 hens had the house all to themselves. We devised a plan to split the house in two - it was difficult but worked with our close monitoring, there was a peaceful compromise in Chicken Ranch which lasted all of 6 weeks – yes, there were arguments but we got over them.
Mummy Hen Turns Against Her Chicks
Just like a switch had been switched in Jazz's head she had had enough of her chicks and viciously chased them like a bull chasing a red flag as if she was running them out of town. She totally disowned them. We were very saddened and cross with her. The 2 camps had changed; it was the Hens against the Chicks now and the chicks were not welcome in chicken ranch! How crazy is mummy hen; she spends 6 weeks fighting for her right to get her and her chicks in Chicken Ranch and now she wont let them in – maybe she is being cruel to be kind to make them independent, who knows? A new dilemma – solution - divided house – chicks one side – hens the other so they can see each other through a green wire fence. The chicks don't like it, they are scared and try to sleep under the hen house – we get the message, so we now have a small hen house on order for the chicks to live in. Chicken Ranch No2
So What is It really Like Keeping Chickens?
They make you laugh every day – they make you cry, they educate you and take you out of your own limited way of thinking as a human beings, they push you to suspend judgement and to work with what is instead of what you think should be – they are loving, curious, inquisitive, they make you look for solutions instead of focusing on the problem – they are intelligent – they are cheeky – they are stubborn – they are caring – they are mischievous for the sheer hell of it – they bring every human emotion to the surface that you forgot you had – they show their good sides and their dark sides with no shame – they make you realise there is no right or wrong – just difference. They make you love them for who and what they are.
Conclusion – Lessons to Be Learnt
It was us humans that interfered with nature and thought we knew best for our family of hens by bringing in another hen's unfertilised eggs so we changed the family dynamics, is it no surprise we have had so many challenges – we are very good at - interfering with nature. We wanted to fix something that didn't need fixing because we couldn't stand our hens pain of sitting on eggs and having no chicks – we tried to rescue her, but who were we really rescuing? Ourselves of course, as we couldn't stand our own pain! The hen would have got over her broody period within 3 weeks and life would have been back to normal again after her "meditation retreat". One thing is for sure we will stand by our hens and our chicks and continue to focus on solutions and not problems and will leave mother nature to know what mother nature knows best from now on. We will try our best but let go of the outcome. It will be interesting as one of the chicks is a Cock, so watch this space. I really could write a whole book on chicken v human interactions – maybe a few more articles to begin with hey!
What is it Really Like Keeping Chickens - Chicken Therapy – Soup for the Mind
If you have been touched by this article or you want to focus on solutions rather than problems, you may wish to visit my website www.hypnosis-mp3audios.co.uk where I have a range of self development hypnosis-meditation recordings and instructions for self meditation. There is also a free 12 minute download entitled "Overcome Your Anxiety"
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Keeping Chickens 
