Barnyard Empathy.

 Spring has finally come to my little valley, although probably not the beautiful green spring that most of you are already having. No my spring is that 98% of the snow is finally gone. That is not normal, we are behind by a month at least. Yesterday mother nature was having hot flashes which really ticked her off so she plunged us back into freezing temperatures.

 Oddly enough we were having nicer days back in March. With spring comes the typical barnyard scenes and one of the hens hatched out a bunch of chicks. She did a super job as a mom keeping them warm and getting them to the point of not needing her as much. One of the things that can be a little sad is the day she forgets who they are. Often like now, her body will gear up to start laying again, this way she can start another hatch while the season is still early. The problem is once she starts laying again, her mothering instincts shut off and within a day or two she no longer recognises her babies.

 This happened yesterday, she no longer speaks the language of communication between hen and chick, she can't figure out why all these little chickens follow her everywhere and by evening she was becoming aggressive towards them. I can't help feeling sorry for the little guys, they see mom, she is right there but she doesn't see them, she doesn't know them. They have this confused look, a lost look.

 I always felt sorry for the babies when that happens but last night I had empathy for them as well. I said to them, I know how you feel, my mom forgot me too, same as you guys my mom is there but not there, I feel lost sometimes, I feel confused sometimes, she no longer speaks the language of communication between mother and son, our bond is broken as well, like me you are on your own now.