Our feathered friends, all 19 of them, clucking and quacking before the kids wake from their beds and long after they go down for the night. They are the gateway to what I hope will be a lifelong friendship with animals and each other. These brothers, just about four years apart, are playing with their pecking order in this world. They go in too fast, the chicken or duck flutters away. They go too slow, they miss their chance at holding or petting one altogether. But suddenly, a worm! Pulled from the ground and gobbled up, by the chicken of course. One runs after a butterfly, the other pulls a berry from the bush. This ground, this farm—it's ours to explore together. A lesson in kindness in every chore.
Article by Chelsea Lyn Agro
Photography by Chelsea Lyn Agro
Originally published in Missoula Valley Lifestyle