There's a moment in every chicken owner's life when you realize your birds are better parents than you'll ever be. This video of Eggy is that moment. The sun's out, the chicks are stumbling around like tiny, fluffy idiots, and instead of inhaling the live mealworm like a tiny feathered T-Rex, Eggy picks it up, looks at her babies, and hands it over. No hesitation. No "you kids need to learn to fend for yourselves." Just pure, selfless mom energy. And honestly? I had to pause the video and stare at my own ceiling for a minute.
Look, I get it. Live mealworms are the holy grail of chicken snacks. My own flock would sell me out for a single one. I'm not being dramatic when I say they'd push me in front of a bus Mean Girls style, and honestly, I respect the hustle. But that's what makes this clip so unreal. Eggy had the snack. She had the prize. And she gave it up for her chicks. That's not instinct, that's love. Or at least it's love mixed with a very strong maternal override button that most of us humans are still trying to install.
But here's the part that really gets me, and I know you saw it too: the fuzzy potato. The chick that picks up the mealworm and runs around with it hanging out of her tiny beak like she just stole something. She looks so dumb. I say that with the deepest affection possible. That little potato has no idea what she's doing. She's not thinking about nutrition or sharing or being a good sister. She's just running because running is what you do when you have legs and a worm. It's chaos. It's beautiful. It's exactly what Easter should be.
So what does this mean for you, the person reading this at 11 p.m. with your own flock snoring in the backyard? It means you don't need a perfect hen to be a good mom. You just need to show up, put the snack down, and occasionally let your kids make questionable decisions with wiggly food. And if you're scared of chickens, or scared of the idea of them being nice, this is your sign that they're not just beady-eyed lawn dinosaurs. They're capable of quiet, ridiculous tenderness. Watch the video, laugh at the potato, and maybe, just maybe, give your own birds a little extra grace next time they scream at you for mealworms. They might just be trying to share.