What raising animals has taught, and continues to teach me about accepting loss and being present in life
A few years ago, we moved to our homestead. It was nearly a blank slate at that point. One of the first things that we did to make it feel like home was to get chickens. A school in our area raises show chickens and they had several hens that were getting culled from their program. We brought four of those girls home and they quickly became the unofficial mascots and welcoming committee of our home.
As aging Silkies, those chickens weren’t very good layers, but they represented something to us that we loved. Those four chickens (Turkey, Mary, Dodo, and Pinecone) represented the freedom that we were striving for when we made the decision to jump into homesteading and the desire to be more present in our daily lives. They were the animals that kick started everything out here.
By nature, animals live intentionally, enjoying the simple things. Every morning, when we let them out of their coop, they would run behind us to the front yard, where they would begin scratching for food and laying in the sun. Whenever a car pulled into the driveway, they would come running around the house to see who was here. I believe that they really loved doing that. I think they also loved getting to use the raised beds as dust baths, getting to spread out in a coop that was much too large for four Silkies, scratching around in the fresh wood chips when we changed their bedding, and the warmth of roosting side by side each night. They lived a good life here, a life that I believe they enjoyed. Thy have also, mostly, all died here.
While it is sad to think about – raising animals forces us to stare death in the face and come to an understanding with it. When you chose this way of life, you get a daily, first-hand account of life, death, and decay. The circle of life plays out vividly in front of us every day. We don’t get to avoid it or turn away. It is everywhere around us. Chicken poop transforms into nitrogen. Nitrogen develops rich stands of pasture grasses that fatten animals that are then harvested for meat. The meat and bones of those animals give way to scraps, stocks, and broths that go back to the chickens or into our compost piles. The chickens turn those scraps, stocks, and broths into eggs that we eat and more poop to fertilize the grass. The compost piles decompose into rich, dark soils that we use to grow vegetables and fruits. On and on it goes. Here on our homestead, we try to be in control of these ever occurring cycles, while simultaneously trying to forget that it is happening to us as well.
A quote by author Chloe Liese says, “Life begets death begets life. The only thing we can do is honor the beauty and dependability of that cycle.”. That is a beautiful way to look at and honor death. I want to be able to look right at death and see not just the sadness and grief attached to it, but also the happiness and new beginnings that will will come from it. I think we can do that by not running from death, but by remembering that death has a purpose in our world, for everything from the most minute creatures to ourselves.
In Ecclesiastes chapter 3: 1-2, it says, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.”. We are part of a world and a plan that is much bigger than us. Do your best to remember that. Honor the cycle of life and death so that neither one happens in vain and always remember to enjoy the simple things.
In some ways, those chickens have taught us how to slow down and live our lives with intention. To really soak in the little moments that we get to spend together. After all, time is fleeting and the little things make up most of our time.
Turkey, Mary, and Pinecone – I hope you will rest easy knowing that you were loved. You truly meant something here and you have taught us huge lessons. Your bodies will forever be a part of making this ground better.
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