My Naked Chicken

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Psalm 91:4

Some days I feel as if I’ve had my wings clipped. I feel like if I just had this or that, then I could do something great. Some days I feel stuck in a rut and not able to live up to my full potential.

I’m sure my chicken felt like that on Sunday.

It was as warm a day as we’d had in about a month and life was bustling. The snow was melting, the kids were playing and I was out sitting on my bench.

My rooster, Betty, (need further name explanation: click here) and his hen decided it would be a fine day to hop over the fence and check out if there were any horse feed samplings to be had.

The neighbor dog was over, playing with the kids and Lucky, and saw Betty and the Mrs. out. Now we’ve not had any problems between the neighbor dog and our chickens before, so I wasn’t in a hurry to shoo her away. However, this time she decided to slip down into a hunting stance, and before I could scream my way across the backyard, Mrs. Betty took off with a streak of dog behind her in hot pursuit.

As luck would have it, my neighbor, Mr. Fuller was out watering his cows and screamed at the neighbor dog, as did I as I ran like a banshee across the yard and slipped through the fence. The neighbor dog was so startled that she let go of Mrs. Betty, but it was not before Mrs. Betty lost a few feathers.

We immediately felt like guilty chicken parents for not trimming their wings sooner. We usually keep their wings clipped so they can’t fly out of their pen, but we got behind. Call DCS (Department of Chicken Services)! We’d had a blizzard, you know!

Anyway, the hub and I went into emergency wing clipping mode and rounded everyone up for their individual captures. We eventually found Mrs. Betty hiding in such a way that only her tail feathers were sticking out of a space in the barn wall. We looked her over and she appeared no worse for the wear, with the exception of being quite naked.

And ugly.

I’m sure she’s been jeered by the other, smarter chickens who stayed in the pen. I’m sure she’s given Betty a tongue-lashing for running out on her while she was wrestling the dog for her life. I’m sure she’s forgotten the whole experience by now since it has been two days and chickens aren’t known for their mental prowess.

So the next time you’re feeling down, or in a rut, or like there has to be something better out there for you, remember Mrs. Betty. Perhaps your wings are clipped for a reason. Perhaps there’s someone on the other side just waiting to pull out the rest of your feathers.

The “grass may be greener on the other side of the fence”, but do you really want to look like this:

I didn’t think so!

“…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31