The Chicken Coop

Hey! We built a chicken coop at the Kineo Community Urban Farm.

Bet you thought this was going to be some philosophical ranting about how chicken coops have something to do with anything…

Actually, maybe I could ramble a little…

The farm was given one mama chicken a few weeks ago.  She was a roamer and seemed content bossing around the goats and mothering the bunny. We were told that she was old and no longer producing but decided a coop would be a good addition to the farm, as there was a hope for more chickens. As we began to build the coop we noticed that she was watching and seemed to be anxiously waiting. Always close by, clucking and poking her head through the mesh.Then today, she was really creating a racket, so we picked her up to offer some comfort. She got really quiet and began to make a purring or snoring sort of noise. Moments later, she LAID AN EGG. It hit the ground with a splat, the bird dropped to the ground and in a flurry we were trying to scoop up the egg so she wouldn’t eat it. (Apparently, chickens eat their eggs if they are not trained)

And so, I ponder the question of home, what is home? Does a chicken really need a home? That chicken could probably live out a full live roaming the farm-yard with no coop, but we saw that the hope of a home provided the stimulation to actually be who she was created to be, an egg layer.

I’m not sure if the chicken coop analogy applies to us as humans but, we do see the value in the idea of home. However, our idea of a home is has changed over the past two years of nomadic life. Home, for us, has become where ever we are. Maybe though, like the chicken, we don’t know any different until that coop starts being built and our souls are stirred, and our physical beings are awakened to the point that we can not contain our joy.  It reminds me of that old hymn, Softly and tenderly.

We have a longing for home, there is no doubt. That longing is not for a physical structure   or place but for a peace that passes all understanding, and for the restoration of our souls and communion with those who travel this road with us. Home.

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