Several years ago, I was raising silkies. One of my yellow hens hatched out a large brood of chicks. I noticed from the start, that one chick wasn’t accepted by the mother hen. It did alright, but something was off. Later, I came to discover, it was blind. So I put it in a small fenced pen in the yard and used a large dog crate for shelter and to keep it safe at night. It was a friendly and sweet bird.
One morning, as I was checking on my chickens, I found the blind silkie sitting on something. To my astonishment, it turned out to be an orphaned chipmunk. A very scared and dehydrated chipmunk. With some internet searching, I found what to do to take care of the chipmunk and finally reintroduce it to the wild when it was big enough and ready.
Any other silkie wouldn’t have allowed the chipmunk to seek warmth under it and the chipmunk may have otherwise died in the cold of night. But the blink silkie had no preconceived notions as to what would be a friend. May we all be a bit more open minded as to what might be a friend and how we can help those in need. Beauty is found in the giving.
My lovely blind silkie only lived a few years. I was heartbroken when she died. She must have had other health problems. But she will always hold a special place in my heart, and I am sure, in the heart of the orphan chipmunk.
Era Lewis 