I witnessed a crow miracle today. The forest gifted us a miracle that saved my sweet little chicken’s life.
This year has been a difficult one for our chicken flock. We free range our hens, because we believe that freedom is a precious thing. We have also heard horror stories of caged hens being massacred by creatures tearing through fences and taking the whole flock at once.
So, sometimes the forest will take a hen or two to feed someone. This year, the fox came to visit. I think she was raising a den of pups. She would come and take a chicken about once a week until we were down to one poor lonely chicken. Since the disappearance of her flock, this chicken has become somewhat dear to us.
We have a little routine, she and I. Every morning she comes up to the porch to check in. Then she nestles into an old garden basket in my outdoor pantry and lays her egg. She cackles loudly to let me know she is done, then she jumps up on the porch railing to wait for me to feed her. It’s quite endearing.
So, as you can imagine, I find myself just praying for her safety and encourage her to stay close to the house. She is pretty “forest wise” and she flies up into the trees when threatened. Some of the other breeds don’t do this. It’s curious because they can fly. But, often when they are under attack, many chickens will not fly. They simply run. This makes them pretty easy prey in the chain of life up here. Anyway, this chicken is a Spangler. She is pretty savvy. And, I pray.
This warm summer morning, as I was watering the plants on my porch, I heard this incredible ruckus. The crows came flying from everywhere. They dove through the sky from the north, south, east and west. They were screaming their crow call and diving down in this one spot in our meadow. The grass and flowers were quite high so it was hard to understand the scene at first. The crows kept diving and cawing until the fox turned away from her path to the chicken coop and went running, tail between her legs back into the forest.
I ran around the house to check and there was my sweet chicken. I was so happy to see her. I gave thanks to the crows for saving her for one more day. It was a chicken miracle day at Dancing Sun Cabins. I am so grateful.
I do wonder if there are others who have witnessed forest miracles. I would love to hear about them. I find the forest to be a fascinating place to live in.