I would like to relate a True story about Chicken Brains. This was originally written for a particular little town, ("Anytown" here), and related to some incidents happening only a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it seems the messages apply generically. I believe the majority of the readers of this will agree with me that this has a great deal of significance yet today.

At one time, many years ago when I lived on a large farm, I had a large flock of Murphy Hatcheries' mixed chickens. These were a delight. They came in many colors, shapes and sizes. The variety was wonderful to behold. There were grand Polish chickens, black with white snowpuffs as crowns on their heads, there were Cornish game with their loooonng legs. There were Andalusas which laid colored eggs so it could be like Easter without trying. I had some cute silkie bantams cute as a bug's ear. There were some fighting red bantams. One of them liked to fight himself in the chrome bumper of our new car until he'd knock himself out----a true Chicken Brained Macho Man I'd say! He would get up, see himself again and go back to "fighting". "Hot-blood" he was.

One year we had an extremely wet silage crop which made the silo leak corn liquor all around the ground! Well, some of the chicken brains got pickled they got such a taste for it. But they sure looked silly upside down on the ground unable to stagger to the roost at night. I could not gather them all up so I think their drinking got a few of them eaten by racoons (who were also prevalent).

One big rooster, a Rhode Island Red I believe, became injured and showed blood so all the other chickens liked to attack him every chance they got-- chickens have a way of doing that you know. They'll pick another chicken to death. I put Pine Tar on his injuries but by that time he'd become afraid of all the others. He sought refuge from most of his fellow kind they were so cruel.

I also had Four notable mothers. In those days when you had a large flock of chickens, many of them would "nest" and hatch chicks, ducks, turkeys, pheasants, geese, whatever.... But these three notable Mothers are forever etched in my mind because they were so like humans with their chicken brains.

The first one, a cute white silkie bantam mom, looking like a white shiny, fluffy dustmop, hatched a brood out in a shed away from the others. They were sweet little things about half the size of usual chicks. She'd happened to choose the very shed that the Big Rooster sought refuge in. Mom Silkie would take her babies there every evening and I would check to make sure the door was locked so Raccoons could not get the precious little things. I had to about fall out laughing when I first came out with my flashlight and saw mom, super silkie mom, sitting with all her tiny little darlings under one wing, and with the Big Rooster somehow skrunched under the other which left her sleeping at about a 90 degree angle. Super Silkie Mom, in spite of her chicken brain, but obviously because she was a Real Mom, was able to share her space even at some considerable discomfort to herself, for the injured Big Rooster. I guess by that time he was humbled enough to where he could admit that even he needed tender loving care. True Story!

The second and Third Moms had chicken brains just alike. Each hatched a brood of 7 chicks. In one brood, 6 were white and 1 was black. The other one hatched a brood of 6 black and 1 white. Well, someway their maternal instincts could not get through their chicken brains and they were each actively trying to make their oddly colored chick quit following them. I knew I had to try something before the moms killed them, so I caught the two little discriminated against baby chicks who had done nothing wrong to deserve such treatment. So I tried an experiment. I doubted that the hens knew each of their brood individually so risked putting the white loner with the brood of whites. Chicken Brain mom now accepted him and consented to care for him (or her). I did the same with the loner black chick. I put him(or her) with the brood of black chicks and sure enough, another Chicken Brain mom now acted motherly. True Story!

The fourth notable Chicken Brain mom was much more likeable than those two chicken brains when one values the lives of babies of all kinds and colors. I had her hatch out a batch of ducklings. A fine batch they were. But misunderstandings sometimes happen when there are mixed families and parents believe there are dangers and the children can't appreciate the fears at all. Happens in just about all homes of even we humans, (as though we're much better in some ways! We might be able to learn something). So Mama Hen was very happy with her darling babies and I guess she was generally able to communicate well with them and they were thriving under her care. An apparently Fine "family". I guess in human terms we might say they were an "extended family" as they were distantly related through the fowl species even if one was a chicken and the babies were ducks.

All went well in their lives until a BIG rainstorm which left huge puddles. Now, I realize some city people might not realize that ducks love water but chickens hate and fear water, (even though they can be so chicken-brained they fail to come in out of it). The Pre-teen baby ducks got up that morning, out from under their loving Mama's wings, and smelled and saw the giant PUDDLES!!! Oh fun! I watched as they ran, going faster and faster as they got closer and closer. By that time MAMA KNEW THEY WERE HEADED FOR TROUBLE! Why, ALL chicken brains SHOULD know and fear WATER! It was quite comical and I'm sorry to say it but I really laughed at her fright and misery, convinced her babies were out to commit suicide or get themselves in DEEP WATER. (I often had the same fears for my 5 children at various ages like climbing windmills as a toddler, etc., etc., ) So I could fully appreciate her plight as a frightened MAMA watching them splash and practice instinctive diving for minnows or whatever. She ran around and around the puddle TRYING in chicken talk to coax, threaten, scare them OUT of the water-- to no avail. She wore herself out WITH HER FEARS. I felt sorry for her Chicken Brain, I really did. She was about as exhausted as the Bantam Rooster so full of Macho "hot-blood" he even beat himself up! True Story!

I am much more disturbed when I hear about humans acting as though they had these types of Chicken Brains. I know when I have acted as though I had a Chicken Brain on a few, (very few I'll have you know), .........Well, on those RARE occasions, (Oh, darn, I did say this was going to be true stories all the way didn't I....so ok it was more than a few when I exercised chicken brains....There I said it & I'm glad). Just like Red Skeleton with Ms. Buff Orpington, incidentally another breed and type of old hen always characterized by dear Red as snooty just because she wanted to be. It was funny when he did the characterizations. It is funny if it doesn't hurt other humans---he was always a gentleman with his characterizations. Anyway, back to the point.

I have heard of some Anytown residents who are evidently exercising their Chicken Brains, (as I'd say with my 5 kids---"You know who you are..."). It seems that there is at least one set of parents who are acting like the 2nd and 3rd True Story Chicken Brains I mentioned, possibly a little like the Mama, afraid for her ducklings for no real reason, but a Lot like Ms. Buff Orpington. You see, there are mostly white kids in town, in this Anytown. And occasionally some half-white kids have been seen playing in town too. So the Buff Orpingtons, possibly another family, have actually tried to tell their little children that they can NO LONGER play with some little white children BECAUSE sometimes some only half-white children play with them too. I guess another descriptive term for Chicken Brains is "small-minded" and governed by irrational fears (irrational is only a degree or two away from insane--look it up) of contamination of their chicks, er children.

I wonder how much potential harm is going to be done to ALL the children with lessons in life like that?? What would Christ have said?? I'll bet it would confound Confucius that humans could have chicken brains and use them that way actually HARMING their own chicks, er children's development with prejudice and bigotry not EVEN befitting the FOWL clan. I guess I could say the parental behavior is Worse than FOWL.

I am also glad for the lessons I learned from all the fowl moms. Some are so loving they can love through ANY differences of size and color and shape. Some are so prejudiced they would KILL or injure without a moral thought to it, like a Chicken Brain Fowl. Like Red's Ms. Buff Orpington, they are all puffed up with self-importance and strutting around like they're really something when in truth they are acting like Chicken Brains. I WILL take steps to assure ALL children I can that they are loved, they are precious, they are truly our Nation's resources. They will learn TRUE dignity and integrity of being. MOST IMPORTANT..... they will learn it is more important to love and understand than fear or jeer because of ignorant stereotypes.

Thank you for the opportunity to tell you about Chicken Brains. Now...a short one about a Duck Mama. This Duck Mama had a nest right on the edge of a haystack close to the edge of our yard. She feared me greatly, afraid, I suppose, that I'd raid her nest. So she would fly at me, chase me if I came anywhere near her nest. She just did not trust me, a grownup, at all. My one daughter was at that time just a toddler. I was working in the yard one day and Daughter toddled over by the nest and plunked herself right down beside Ms. Mama Duck and oogled and googled away-- which Ms. Duck seemed to like. I looked over and saw Daughter in what I thought was imminent danger. I did not know if Mama Duck was just not aware Daughter was so close or what but I was convinced I had to get Daughter out of there before Ms. Duck would turn against her. It became a real dilemma because every time I got close Ms. Duck would get ALL riled up and threaten to fly at me. I could not quite figure how I could get close enough to get daughter out of there before Ms. Duck either turned on Daughter or squished her eggs tromping on them to fly at me. I coaxed, begged and pleaded, but you know how toddlers are. She and Ms. Duck had been having an otherwise fine relationship. I eventually got Daughter to come to me. I actually think Ms. Duck had some ideas about protecting Daughter from me, from my rescue. Miscommunication! True Story.