Raising Chickens (And Children)

Well, just the other day our Rhode Island Red pullets in the chicken tractor began laying their first eggs.  The first eggs that the pullets lay are small.  We call them pullet bullets.  They quickly get larger though.  We generally keep the pullets confined in the chicken tractor until they lay their first eggs and then we set them free.  The reason we do that is for their protection.  While they are small, they are especially vulnerable to predators.  We try to be good stewards and protect them from harm.

Pullet Bullet

My practice is to get into the chicken tractor, catch them one by one, and clip their wings.  The birds get VERY nervous when I get in the tractor with them.  They start running around the inside of the tractor like... well, chickens with their heads cut off.  Chickens aren't the smartest of creatures and in their panic they do crazy things like this one did:  She flew up and got her head caught between the wire fencing and the 2x4 frame.  She just hung there, probably embarrassed at her predicament.

And then there is this one who was so freaked out, she somehow got her wing caught on the ceiling of the chicken tractor.  She hung there like a wind chime, swinging in the breeze.  I had to climb in the tractor and rescue both of them.

They were happy about me getting them out of their awkward positions, but I had other plans in store for them before I released them.  Armed with a pair of clippers, I clipped one of their wings.  With one wing clipped, they are off balance and cannot fly very well.  Chickens aren't adept fliers anyway, but doing this really keeps them grounded and discourages even 3 foot high flights that could take them over the fence and into harm's way with dogs and raccoons and possums.

Tonight at Wednesday night services at our church, the message came from Colossians 3:21:

Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

The teaching point was that as parents, we are to provide our kids with love, with limits, and with leadership.  We must be a positive example to them and not be so negative that our kids give up and stop trying.  I was thinking about the second point about setting limits and how it was similar to clipping the wings of the chicken.

You see, chickens don't like to have their wings clipped.  It is uncomfortable.  I don't much like to do it because of all the drama, squawking, and protesting of the the birds.  However, I'm doing it for the chickens' own good.  The chicken with unclipped wings will fly over the perimeter fence and become a meal for a dog, raccoon, or possum.  I am trying to prevent that and protect them.

It is sort of a paradox, if you think about it.  They are getting their freedom.  They'll be out of the chicken tractor and can roam all over the 3 acre pasture.  Freedom comes with some limits, though. They cannot fly over the fence and I'm setting limits to discourage that or make it harder for them to do so.  While they don't see it, it is for their own good.

Clipped wings for a child can be a curfew, limitations on where they can go or what they are allowed to do.  It isn't fun for a parent to set limits, especially when "all the other kids get to do it."  However, by setting limits and providing leadership, we show that we truly do love our kids.

While the hen in the photo above is squawking and fighting me, she'll live a happy life, protected and healthy.  The hen that got away from me before I could clip her wings flew over the fence.  It took me 30 minutes to catch her and throw her back over the fence and to safety.  Her stubborn ways could have cost her her very life. So it is with child-raising, too.

Parenting is the hardest thing I've ever done and I'm afraid that I have made mistakes in being too harsh at some times and too easy in others.  It is a fine line you walk down, providing a balance of encouragement and discipline, freedom with limits, and unconditional love.  In raising chickens or raising children, it is important to set limits to protect those under our watchcare.