I have raised chickens; it was a special joy to do so on my little ranch after I retired as Bishop of Corpus Christi.  I never had one as talented at this one, but I wish that I had.

Father Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote,

“Glory be to God for dappled things –

For skis of couple-color as a brined cow;

For rose-moles all in staple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced -fold, fallow , and plow;

And all trades, their gear and tackle  and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise Him.

xxx