THE ROOSTER: MR. Darcy
Living in our backyard homestead is a rooster named “Mr. Darcy”. The name was selected by my girls who love Jane Austen. In fact, many of the animals you will find here are from characters in her books. When Mr. Darcy first came to Family Roots we added him in a pen with nine other hens that were totally satisfied to be doing their own thing. They had their own pecking order and ignored Darcy altogether. The way Darcy coped with the situation is an example well worth noting.
He did not start leading his pack at first however, little by little, he began to take the lead. At first, when I would watch it did not look like he knew what his role was or how he would begin to take charge of his flock. As time went on, each day brought him closer to his purpose and goal.
He began pursuing this calling of his when we would let the chickens out of their run in the late afternoon, instead of just feeding himself on insects and grass, Mr. Darcy seized the moment by dashing to the nearest dirt and scratched for grubs and worms, sort of coaxing the hens to follow.
HOW DID HE LEARN THIS PRINCIPLE?
When he would find a morsel or two, his coaxing took on a louder, more urgent sound. Though the hens were unsure at first, they soon learned that his concern was genuine. Then they came running — wings outspread and feet flying. Mr. Darcy would stand protectively aside looking out for danger while they plucked up the bugs. He repeated the action again and again as he led them about the farm. Whenever I came to the coop, he would always let the ladies feed first, he never took his share before them. It is as if somewhere quietly in his nature he was taught the biblical principle “women and children first.”
After his arrival sometime, he began crowing more and more as this is part of his divine role as the timekeeper of the flock. This would signal to the others it is time to wake up and start their day. His crowing also seemed to say we had another victory over darkness and it is light again. It is as if he was proclaiming to his “family” it is a new dawn! He then would be the first to go out to the run to make sure all is safe from fox or owls. When all was cleared- he would give the crow and out those ladies would dart. Later after their morning feeding, the laddies usually settle down — sunning, dust bathing, napping, and laying eggs all follow. But it is Mr. Darcy who often decides when rest time is over, and he will call the hens to get them up and hunt for food again.
A PATTERN OF GOD
Those hens became happy to have such a leader. His sweet nature and true concern for their need had won their full confidence and desire to follow him. I would watch him day in day out lead his ladies through the yard with such pride. How did he know to do that? Are roosters smarter than humans? Do they really know what true masculinity looks like, what sacrificial love is, or charity without ever being taught? Or is this a pattern of God he has designed in nature for us to follow?
For us, on the homestead, it was learning the Patriarch role that drove us to uproot our family from the city and to put it into practice. But to think, it has been modeled for us all along straight from the chicken coup with Mr. Darcy as the leading example, who would have known!
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