Mother hens have a field day when I clear brush along a drainage ditch to prepare for the winter rains. The brush and fallen leaves are so thick, you can’t see their little chicks digging for things to eat in the moist ditch. Chickens love spending much of their day in the woods.

The leaves are turning more each day. It is all the leaves which make the forest a paradise for chickens. The leaves blanket the forest floor when they fall, making a feast for the worms and bugs the chickens savor.

How much time do the chickens which provide the eggs you buy get to spend in the forest? Did the chicken you buy get to walk through a forest to look for tasty grubs to eat?

It’s a sliver of a crescent moon which lights the morning sky today. On today’s list of things to do is to stack firewood in the woodshed. All summer long it has been drying in the sunshine. It’s time to bring it in under roof.

It doesn’t take long for the chickens to notice what I’m doing. As the stacks of wood outdoors clear, and the stacks of wood in the woodshed grow, the chickens spot the bugs, spiders, and worms thriving at the bottom of the wood piles.

Hens, roosters, and mothers with chicks come running to enjoy a feast. Chickens are very observant, curious creatures. They know that if I’m doing something, there is a good chance I may be stirring up the dirt. They will come by to check, and if one finds something good to eat, the others will come.

At the end of a long day, Tangerine is herding her chicks towards their nest in the chicken yard. She had them out at the crack of dawn and over to the pile of wood for a hearty breakfast. After a full day of foraging she is ready for bed, but the little chicks aren’t quite ready. They want one last run through the grass.

Walking on 14 feet all day long is tiring, especially for a chicken. Can you count all the feet under this hen? There are actually 14. Two from the hen and twelve from the six chicks who are snuggled inside her feathers. For a little chick, nothing beats the warmth of a mother’s feather coat on a cool, drizzly day.

Who is the mystery pullet laying eggs in the woodshed? It’s Skunky! I peeked into the woodshed this morning and saw Skunky in the nest. A short time later, she was gone and there was her egg.

A little over five months ago, Skunky was just a tiny chick, trying to figure it all out. Now she’s a graceful hen laying eggs of her own. What is intriguing is that her mother, started incubating another clutch of eggs this week. They are due to hatch September 27.

Wednesday morning while I was working on the fence, BB spotted an injured chick. It was one of Hazel’s. I took it into the house to nurse it. It had injured its legs and couldn’t stand up. I didn’t have much hope for it.

Thursday it was better, and after keeping it indoors, feeding it and making sure it got plenty to drink, we decided to let it spend the night with its mother and siblings. When it got dark, we tucked it underneath Hazel for the night.

Friday, I brought it back indoors as soon as Hazel left her nest shortly after six in the morning. We kept it indoors, watching it improve, and put her back under Hazel for the night so it could sleep with its mother and siblings.

This morning, I brought it back inside when Hazel got out of her nest. During the early afternoon, Hazel was in the backyard with her clutch, and I let the chick spend time with its mother and siblings. It still had trouble walking around but loved being with its mother again. When I brought it back inside for a rest, it peeped a lot, letting me know it wanted to be with its mother.

This afternoon around four, I took it back out to be with its mother. This time it did much better. Following Hazel around and getting steadier the more it walked. Within an hour, it was running with its mother and siblings with little difficulty. Tonight it is sleeping peacefully under its mother.

Watching how happy it was to be with its mother again after spending a few days in the “hospital”, and seeing how it improved when it was with her, taught me that even for a chick, nothing heals like love.

What is Hazel doing? She’s hunting bugs for her chicks. When she spots a bug in the leaves, she knocks it to the ground for them. Over and over she does it, sometimes jumping up to knock a bug off a high branch. How many chicks get to eat a bug picked for them by a mother who loves them?