I do not believe in God but believe Nature to be an amazing thing. I love watching my chickens do all those chickeny things! I sat in the pen this morning at 6.30am, cup of tea in hand and watched for an hour as my 5 week old Orpington babies ran around in the sunshine, trying to catch flies and falling over their own feet.
I watched my adult girls flirting with their roo. I watched him doing his silly cockerel dance, trying to impress them, bokking and cooing over the odd juicy bug, calling them all to breakfast.
Not only do I enjoy their chicken-ness but the sheer beauty of them.....the beautiful 'blousiness' of my adult Orps, huge ladies weighing in at over 10lbs! The compact smoothness of feather in my Legbar and Campine ladies. The daft beardyness of my Faverolle and the weird cluck she has that led me to call her 'Duck'! The lacing in my Wyandotte and Brahma, how stunningly 'painted on' their colours look. The gorgeous trousers of my Cochin puffball.....a gentle mass of feathers, feet and fun! Harvey, my gorgeous cockerel, a dazzling array of colours and feathering, display and crow, who looks every bit the part and yet is about as manly as Minnie Mouse!!
I love watching and listening to the broodies as they flatten into a puddle and gently croon away to themselves and their eggs (whether they actually have any under them or not!).
My chickens cheer me up when I've had a rough day. They make me smile when I'm down. They soothe my soul when the world is unfriendly. They are my comedians, my anti-depressants, my entertainers, my huggers, my much loved friends.
Thank the wonders of nature for chickens!!!