Chickens are funny. Since we got our new chicks last spring, there has continued to be a separation of “littles” and “bigs”. Even now, when they are all the same size, there is definitely a segregation amongst them. We had to add another roosting bar, because there was so much drama each evening. The littles couldn’t roost anywhere near the bigs and so they were roosting instead on top of the nesting boxes (slanted roof), or on top of the food bin (metal trash can) or in the nesting boxes themselves (what a mess!)

Before the littles arrived, Ruby was the lowest on the pecking order. She was often found roosting on her own in the coop and was kept away by the higher-ups from anything super yummy in the run. But now that there are newbies, Ruby is lost in the middle. Oh, the plight of the middle child! (I can relate!)

But as the weather turns colder, the girls depend on the combined body heat to keep them all protected. Ruby has been asserting herself by roosting on the little’s bar. Much to the dismay of four hens! For several nights this fall, I would go in to check on the girls and the bigs would all be roosting on their bar, Ruby would be the only one on the other bar, and I’d have four hens trying to balance on the slanted roof of the nesting boxes. Sigh. Drama.

But, the colder the nights get, the friendlier chickens get. Tonight, I found Ruby snuggled right up against a little. Two littles on one side, with Ruby pushed up against, and two littles on the far other side, squawking about the imposter!

When push comes to shove and the conditions get harsh, chickens know that it’s teamwork or death. They put their differences aside and help each other stay warm, ignoring all the daytime squabbles and hierarchies.

It feels like too obvious of an analogy, but everywhere I turn, my job, my town, my country, I feel like we are in the midst of a long, cold winter, and we need to put our differences aside and work together for survival’s sake. I tell my girls all the time that they are seriously dumb animals, and yet, they seem a whole lot smarter than people about now.