If you had told me a few years ago that I would have chickens in my backyard, I’d have laughed in your face. I was a busy trial attorney who barely had time for a cat. I certainly wouldn’t have farm animals.
But here we are. I love having chickens. I have four laying hens and each have their own personalities. One is bossy, one is lazy, one is sassy, and one is really, really dumb. But I love the little dinosaurs — and not just because they each lay an egg a day; that’s just a bonus!
It’s amazing how much I learn by watching the silly creatures. So, I’ve decided to have a regular blog topic called Lessons from Chickens.
(Seriously, if twenty-something Ash traveled to the future and saw me (us?) now, she’d think I (we?) had been abducted by aliens.)
One of my hens is broody. She wants to sit on her clutch of eggs until they hatch. Unfortunately, she doesn’t realize how babies are made. No rooster, no babies. Every day I take her out of the nest box and remove the eggs. Still, she won’t give up. She’s the Scarlett O’Hara of chickens. There will be more eggs to sit on tomorrow.
Lesson #1: Give it your best shot, but if/when it doesn’t happen, move on. Know when to walk away. As a writer, that may mean admitting that the opening to your novel just isn’t working. Perhaps it’s time to scrap a secondary character that you absolutely love but isn’t doing anything to further the story. It may even mean shelving your book entirely. Maybe you’ll come back to it in the future. Maybe not.
So, what do you think, friends? Is it time for you to let something go?
“Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.” Aesop
Ashley Storm 
There’s so much to learn — even from chickens. I used to raise them myself when the kids were young. I miss my girls very much, especially the dumb one. If your broody gal gives you too much trouble, you could try getting her a plastic Easter egg to sit on. She’ll feel better and what a picture that’ll make ;^)
Thanks for another great post!
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I’ve debated whether or not to get fertilized eggs from my sister-in-law for Ginny to sit on. I don’t really want to raise baby chicks in the winter, though. They’d have to stay in the house, and they only stay cute for a couple weeks before they enter the awkward teenager phase. Lol.
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