Have you ever Neosporin-ed a chicken’s comb? I have, for the second time in as many days.

There are myriad things to love about chickens, but this is not (for once) going to be a post about those things. Instead, this will be about the one (the only) thing I hate about my chickens, and that is the Pecking Order. For those who are dubiously familiar with this concept, it refers to a ranking system within a group of chickens (or other birds) whereby competition for dominance and position within the social group are expressed by viciously pecking and biting other members of that group. It was actually discovered (according to Wikipedia) by observing the behavior of poultry. If you’ve ever been bitten or pecked by a chicken, then you know what I know: it hurts. Especially when it’s your face.

Petunia is excluded from Fat Eunice and Goldie's egg-laying snugglefest.

Several days ago I noticed that Fat Eunice’s once-enviable comb was scabby and gouged. I doctored it up and wrote it off as a hazard of free-ranging. But this morning, the mystery was solved:  Petunia, my long-time underdog and lowest-ranking hen, is jockeying for Fat Eunice’s spot; right before my eyes, she jumped on top of Eunice and gave her earlobe a ferocious chomp! I know they’re just animals doing animal things. I know that, to whatever extent chickens have been allowed to evolve, this behavior exists for a purpose. Still, I absolutely hate to see them being mean to each other! When I saw it happen, I screamed and waved my arms around, flapping and squawking just like they were doing. It really, really bothered me (I’m the kid that cried during nature programs– and then begged my mom not to change the channel).

No matter how many times I try to explain to the chickens that they really can all get along, that there’s plenty to eat, that I will always love and care for them equally, they don’t get it. They don’t see that they can abandon their silly system and live in fat, feathered, egalitarian bliss atop my compost pile for all of their days. They don’t see that perpetuating oppression puts them all at risk for becoming oppressed.

And then I thought: That must be how God feels about us.