This is a first here. A few days after Buttercup’s chicks hatched, her daughter, which she raised last year, hatched a clutch of eggs too. How often does this happen, where a mother hen and her daughter hatch eggs on nearly the same day?
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Like Mother, Like Daughter
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The Adventure Begins
The adventure begins. Buttercup has her chicks outside teaching them how to dig for earthworms and where to find good things to eat. She‘s also teaching them with her clucks and her calls when danger is nearby, which hens are friendly, and which hens and roosters to avoid. A little chick has so much to learn.
See how attentive she is? A mother hen cares for her chicks as much as a human mother cares for her child.
After a morning full of adventure, it’s time for a warm rest. The chicks find a perfect resting spot under Buttercup. This is what a hen looks like when she is giving her brood a well deserved nap.
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Winter is a Distant Memory
Winter is now a distant memory. Spring has fully taken root, filling the air with the scent of flowers. After heavy rains during the night, the sky is so blue, it takes your breath away. Clean air is not a luxury. It is a necessity for happiness.
Walkways and roads lined with flowering cherries can be found all over Japan. The longest is more than 12 miles long and lined with 6,500 cherry trees. I have fond memories of biking in the countryside in the spring and seeing rows of mountain cherries in full bloom, looking like low hanging clouds against the dark evergreens.
Even the chickens enjoy a stroll under the cherry blossoms. King Richard is out with some of the hens, looking up at the cherry blossoms and wondering when their blossoms will flutter down so they can snack on them.
The five great cherry trees of Japan
- 三春滝桜 Miharutakizakura 1,000 years old
- 石戸蒲ザクラ Ishitokabazakura 800+ years old
- 神代桜 Jindaizakura 1,800 to 2,000 years old
- 淡墨桜 Usuzumizakura 1,500+ years old
- 狩宿の下馬ザクラ Kariyadonogebazakura 800+ years old
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In Her Face
This is how little chicks spend much of their time, huddled around their mother’s face. When they’re not staring into her eyes to see what she’s doing, they’re usually resting underneath her, bundled safe and sound, listening to her beating heart. It’s an infinitesimal number of an infinitesimal number of chicks who are lucky enough to have a mother. Even while they are in their eggs, the chicks at some point must feel and hear their mother’s heartbeat. Being able to take naps and sleep listening to the sound of their mother’s heart must be soothing.
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The First Trillium
This calls for a celebration. I found the first trillium in bloom in the woods. The rest are just poking out of the forest floor, but this one is already in full bloom. This one is so far off the beaten path, that I may be the only human who ever sees it. Still, most flowers in this world are never seen by any human. They don’t bloom for us. They bloom for themselves. Be grateful for every flower you get to see.
