When the wing was clipped it would throw off their balance and flying would be difficult if not impossible until the feathers grew back. By that time they would realize that they had a safe place to live, food to eat, and water available and would not want to fly away except for possibly a little exercises now and then. When their babies were hatched they would then teach them to stay home also. Soon the yard would be full of ducks as they hatched batch after batch.
An interesting thing about this is that if one were to clip a little off both wings the bird would still be able to fly. Their balance would be intact and though it might take a bit of getting used to they would not be grounded. The bird raisers in the readers may enjoy this blog titled Back Yard Chickens.com
As I pondered this I realized that DEBT has very much the same effect. Whether we get in the situation by choice or perceived necessity soon our freedom to fly is gone. We rightly believe that we need to continue in a job we may not like to earn the money to pay the bills and may even begin living payday to payday. Savings dwindle, bigger goals and dreams are set aside or fulfilled by even greater debt. After a time we have lived so long in debt that we accept it as an inevitable part of of life and may bemoan the state of affairs but not acknowledge the source of the problem.
Freedom. Such an amazing and precious word. As we look to the skys and watch the birds we are reminded each day.
2 comments:
My hens are free-ranging most of each day, but they have a covered yard for day and night. I prefer to keep their wings intact, giving them freedom to escape from a predator. Some of the hens are old and heavy, so I don't know if they could escape or not. They do have their full abilities, not hampered by my cutting folly.
I preferred to frighten them by throwing pine cones at the fence when they were about nine-months-old and looking up to see what was up there. I honk the horn when they start to follow me to the car. They don't like noisy fences or cars, so they stay safe and free.
Some people can see the threat of debt and never actually be in bondage. Like my hens, they reverse course at the hint of losing their lives and keep their freedom.
The new six-month-old hens only go where the older ones do. They learned.
Good analogy. I never have cut the wings of chicken feathers, only the ducks, and it was when they first were brought home.
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