Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Paul wrote, “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” 1 Timothy 4:16, NIV

Henny Penny, my black hen;
She lays eggs for gentlemen.
Sometimes nine and sometimes ten
Henny Penny, my black hen.
Old nursery rhyme

Unlike the hen in the nursery rhyme, our black bantam hen prefers that the fruit of her labors do not go to feed gentlemen, or ladies, either, for that matter. So she hid her nest away where aforesaid nest robbers could not find her. However, the date of her last regular appearance was duly noted on the calendar, and twenty-one days later - the length of incubation for hen’s eggs - I was anticipating her reappearance with chicks.
Some of the other residents of the barn knocked over a few bales from the hay stack, and Lo! I spy a hen looking out at me from a crevice between the bales thus exposed to view. A quick check showed that chicks were indeed hatching. There were five at that time, with more eggs to go.
I left her for a time to finish her work. Cheeper(s) by the dozen - almost! She finally came out with eleven chicks. And I am positive she was smiling.
I am always amazed at the vitality of newly hatched chicks. Once the entire clutch of eggs has hatched, mama hen has them on the go. She will typically hunt for food almost immediately, as she has been fasting since the first egg started to hatch. At first, they stay pretty much under mama’s feathers, and she guards them well. Soon, however, it is scratch and cluck, a special mama hen cluck, that means, “Dinner is served.” The chicks dive after the choice bit of food she has uncovered.
This is the time I most enjoy, watching as they learn about the world around them. I put out a chick water bottle for them to drink, and sat back to watch. They cocked their heads, and examined this new intruder into their world, but did not recognize it for what it was - a source of water. Finally, mama hen went to the waterer, dipped in her beak, and tipped back her head. Quick as scat, eleven little chicks were around that waterer, dipping and tipping!
While chicks are drawn to mama hen’s cluck, it is her actions that model proper behavior and relationships to things in the world around them.
Lest we forget, our own little ones, children and grandchildren, learn quickly from what we do, both good and bad. Our words may inform, but our actions demonstrate what really matters. We need to “model the message” in our culture that runs so contrary to Christian beliefs. We are to be living examples, not only to youth, but to the world as a whole. Read Paul's letters to Timothy, and “be diligent in these matters.”
August 8, 2004

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Mama's Wings
* Scripture: Jesus said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." Mt. 23:37, NKJV

I honestly don't know what possessed her to do what she did. I know for a fact she wasn't taking scripture into account. Actually, I was surprised that anything good came out of her efforts. But there they were - seven baby chicks hatched out on the 3rd of March - well out of the usual season!
There is indeed a time and a season for everything, and that white hen was certainly rushing things a wee bit. Perhaps the un-seasonably warm temperatures during the month of January threw her biological clock off schedule. Never-the-less, she stuck with her task; she stayed the course.
It takes three weeks for eggs to hatch once the hen starts setting (incubating.) She had fifteen eggs under her - I think some of the other hens contributed - but that still means she started laying eggs for her clutch back in January. Eggs can, and do, freeze, and the temperatures during that time period were in the teens and twenties many times. That accounts for the many that didn't hatch.
Spring is a much more appropriate time to start a chicken family. Baby chicks have to be kept warm. Mother hens certainly make every effort to do that, but in the dead of winter? The chicks can't stay under mamma all of the time. They need to come out for both nourishment and water, and water is hard to come by when the prevailing temperatures turn such resources icy solid.
I will say this much for her; that hen was persistent both in season and out; she stayed on those eggs. Now, she covers her brood with her wings, both Biblical expressions. (See 2 Timothy 4:2; Luke 13:34)
I suppose that there might be hens that are poor mothers, but most of our bantams are fiercely protective of their little ones. Move close, and she goes on full alert. Move closer and you will learn that the beak is quite useful for things other than eating!
Would that all 'people' parents were so dedicated. Most are, I know, but doesn't it break your heart when you read the headlines or watch the news about neglect, abuse and violence concerning children?
Then, consider what would happen if the chicks didn't WANT to gather under mama's wings during this cold, frigid weather. What a disappointment for the hen.
Even today, Jesus' lament holds true; "How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."
What a disappointment!
March 12. 2006