Once upon a time on a farm far, far, away there was a chicken coop occupying the corner of a barnyard. It was quite a large coop with several different breeds of chickens. Ameraucana, Ancona, Rhode Island and Cornish chickens all shared the same chicken yard and coop. And life was pretty good. There was an abundance of food, the yard was wide and spacious and the fence sturdy; keeping predators at bay. The Farmer cared well for them and they were so grateful for his provision. They provided him with many, many eggs.
But, even though life was good, one day division crept into the coop. Those Rhode Island chickens were big, and they were a bit belligerent too. They claimed that they needed more food because they were a larger type of chicken than the others, and because of their size, they were able to push the others around — and they sure did.
The Ancona chickens suffered greatly. They were not as strong as the Rhode Island chickens. They couldn’t stop them from eating their chicken feed and when it came time to roost at night, well, they were often forced to sleep on the floor of the coop completely exposed to the elements and potential dangers. As a result of all the stress they experienced, they laid much less eggs than the other chicken breeds. Some of the other chickens actually began to question whether they would ever contribute productively to the welfare of the whole coop. They were often forgotten and ignored by the other chickens.
But the Cornish chickens did feel bad for the Anconas. They saw their plight and sought to help them in their needs. They gathered whatever food they could find and gave it to the Anconas. Sure, it wasn’t the best of the food, but it was something. They even tried to provide places for them to roost in the coop — not on the top levels that they enjoyed, but at least off of the ground. Those Cornish chickens really didn’t like those Rhode Islands. Unfortunately the Cornish chickens’ efforts weren’t really appreciated, the Anconas still felt slighted by all the other chickens, and they became less and less part of the community of the coop.
And the Ameraucanas? Well, they were pretty much just above all of the pettiness. I mean, they were by far the most magnificent looking of the all the chickens in the coop — and quite good egg layers too. They took so much time preening that they had little time for anything else. Life in the coop was really just all about them. “Ameraucanas are so selfish,” the other chickens would say. “They just strut around the yard, at least pretending to be oblivious to the deep division of life in the chicken coop. You would think with all of privilege they enjoyed that they would seek to bring a unity to the coop, but they don’t even try.”
Well, of course, the whole coop suffered from the division. The quality of life for those chickens fell dramatically, and what had been an almost perfect chicken yard became a rather miserable place to be, which was quite a shame because it had so much to offer for both the chickens and the Farmer as well. The Farmer was sad, he had given them so much, but they just were not living up to their potential. But there was still hope. If those chickens could lay aside their own agendas, perhaps, just perhaps, the coop could regain its glory. The name of the chicken coop? America.
Leave a Reply