THE CHICKENS
by D.A.T.
See! the chickens round the gate
For their morning portion wait;
Fill the basket from the store,
Let us open wide the door;
Throw out crumbs and scatter seed,
Let the hungry chickens feed.
Call them; now how fast they run,
Gladly, quickly, every one!
Eager, busy hen and chick,
Every little morsel pick;
See the hen, with callow brood,
To her young how kind and good!
With what care their steps she leads!
Them, and not herself, she feeds,
Picking here and picking there,
Where the morsels nicest are.
As she calls they flock around,
Bustling all along the ground;
When their daily labors cease,
And at night they rest in peace,
All the little things
Nestle close beneath her wings;
There she keeps them safe and warm,
Free from fear and free from harm.
Now, my little child, attend:
Your almighty Father, Friend,
Though unseen by mortal eye,
Watches o’er you from on high;
As the hen her chickens leads,
Shelters, cherishes, and feeds,
So by Him your feet are led,
Over you His wings are spread.
See! the chickens round the gate
For their morning portion wait;
Fill the basket from the store,
Let us open wide the door;
Throw out crumbs and scatter seed,
Let the hungry chickens feed.
Call them; now how fast they run,
Gladly, quickly, every one!
Eager, busy hen and chick,
Every little morsel pick;
See the hen, with callow brood,
To her young how kind and good!
With what care their steps she leads!
Them, and not herself, she feeds,
Picking here and picking there,
Where the morsels nicest are.
As she calls they flock around,
Bustling all along the ground;
When their daily labors cease,
And at night they rest in peace,
All the little things
Nestle close beneath her wings;
There she keeps them safe and warm,
Free from fear and free from harm.
Now, my little child, attend:
Your almighty Father, Friend,
Though unseen by mortal eye,
Watches o’er you from on high;
As the hen her chickens leads,
Shelters, cherishes, and feeds,
So by Him your feet are led,
Over you His wings are spread.
Joselyn, like many other young families, is keeping backyard chickens. She describes being with her chickens as peaceful and calming. As a homeschool mom of four, her husband and boys often find her "hidden" away, sitting with “The Ladies,” as she loving refers to her backyard hens. While I photographed her small brood she spoke with delight about each of their unique personalities and the depth of their storied, almost human, eyes. We admired the variety of features: the feathered "ankles" of the Brahma Chickens, the chipmunk design of the Cinnamon Queen chicks, and the intricate feathers of the Ameraucanas.
Besides simply loving her chickens, Joselyn and her family chose to keep them for their eggs. The chickens are given poultry feed, but more importantly they provide the ladies with nutritious (and landfill-saving) kitchen scraps. Her ten hens produce eight to ten eggs each day. Because chickens are often the gateway to other homestead animals and projects, Joselyn and her husband George already have plans to take a course on breeding to brooding. They hope to someday keep both laying and meat chickens for their own use.
"In biblical usage, glory means the true essence of something: its distinctiveness and uniqueness. Accordingly, when we bring glory to God, we recognize and accentuate the virtues that make him divine: we recognize that nothing else in the universe is immutable, sovereign, without beginning, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, and perfect.
These are lofty thoughts. But I propose that the best way to appreciate God’s specialness is to first appreciate the physical specialness of his creatures."
Joel Salatin
