Crazy Mom

As most of you know, we recently hatched baby chicks.  Here is a quick lesson on hatching eggs.  Chickens will sit on eggs certain times of the year for a certain amount of days. If the eggs do not hatch within 21 days or so they abandon their nest.  Mission aborted.  There is one type of chicken that will sit on eggs anytime of the year and never abandon their nest.  These super maternal (or broody if you really want to talk chicken) chickens are called silkies and I have two of them.  I knew ( if I bought fertilized eggs from another chicken) my silkies would sit on the eggs regardless of whose eggs they were, the kids would get to witness something cool and I would have more chickens.  The end. 

I did not anticipate how invested my kids would be in this process.  They checked the eggs daily.  We monitored their growth online.  We talked about them constantly.  When it was time for them to hatch, we moved them into the garage.  We gathered around and watched these baby chicks peck their way into the world.  For hours, my kids sat perched on recycle bins, lawn mowers and wagons.  We huddled and cheered and worried as each chick emerged.  Statements of excitement.  Statements of concern. It's out! It's not moving! It's moving! It's wet! It's dry! Don't touch it! Can I hold it?!?! By the time we staggered out of the garage, we were exhausted. 

I did not anticipate how maternal one of my chickens would prove to be or how she would nurture these chicks once they emerged from the eggs.  My chicken, who we shall call Buff, (because that is her name) took maternal to a whole new level.  I bought eight fertilized eggs thinking each silkie could sit on four.  Buff was not going to let that happen.  She consistently took the four eggs from the other silkie and would sit on all of them.  Silkies are small birds and she was unable to cover them effectively, only three hatched.  Buff drove Kennedy crazy with her insistence on sitting on all of the eggs.  Kennedy would separate them and Buff would push them back under her.  Kennedy looked at me and said, "She is a crazy mom just like you".  I chose to take her statement as a complement. 

I did not anticipate the bond between Buff and the baby chicks.  She is protective, fierce and nurturing.  The baby chicks adore her.  They run to her, climb on her back and seek her in all circumstances.  When they are separated they squeal and squawk and pace and it is heartbreaking.

I did not anticipate the affirmation this process would give to my family.  Gomah and I were outside watching the chickens.  She said, "Buff thinks she is really their mom".  Her words hung in the air.  I asked Gomah why Buff wasn't their mom.  Her response was because they were not her eggs.  I asked Gomah to keep watching them and decide if that mattered or not.  Gomah smiled and we were done talking as we watched the chickens live out the bond of a mother and her children.

I did not anticipate having our adoption story reflected in the hatching of the baby chicks.  I did not anticipate the real life cliche of "love makes a family" lived out in our coop.  I am grateful, in a way words cannot carry, for the lessons and affirmations I did not anticipate. I am a crazy mom. I utter statements of excitement and concern so rapidly I sound bipolar as my desire to keep my children close bumps up against my desire to let them grow. When I am separated from my children, I squeal and squawk and pace and my heart breaks. I did not anticipate a love like this with my kids. I did not know to anticipate a love like the one I hold for my children. I am grateful I get to live out the bond of mother and child with my four "chicks". I know I am "really their mom" even though some of them were not my eggs.  Keep watching us.  Decide if it matters or not.