Emily, my bashful Little Lady, was unwilling to pose for this illustration, and so I will honor her wishes even though today’s story couldn’t be told without her. She is shown here as still a young chick with her first distinctive feathers developing which provide beautiful camouflage.

When Emily and Amelia joined the four others, they ended up in the middle of the pecking order. They would even take on larger chickens to hold onto their place in the middle.

But that lasted only a few months for Emily. She could only puff out her feathers so much to appear larger and only stand but so tall to appear more assertive. She was unable to hide her true gentle nature from the others. She ended up on the bottom of the new pecking order.

Emily is different from all my other chickens. She is a Gold Laced Wyandott. Not only is her size noticeably smaller, but her comb is different too. It doesn’t stand up with points like the “single comb” which all the others have. She has a “rose comb” which is shorter and plumper and reminds me very much of a French beret. It fits her calm and sophisticated demeanor.

She is also the only one with a neck covered in black and gold iridescent feathers! It fascinates me how even with such splendid feathers and patterning, she is able to blend into the background.

With these beautiful adornments, it seems odd for her to still be at the bottom of the pecking order, but chickens see things differently than people.

This means she is likely to get pecked on her head whether she deserves it or not. This also means she is often hesitant to move forward for favorite treats, and so she only occasionally knows what it’s like to have the best of anything.

These things make me sad for her, but it’s just the way chickens are. This was not an easy lesson for me to learn. Sometimes I give her special treats when no one else is looking. As I have told her so many times, she is my sweetheart and always will be.

You might think she is a social outcast, without a voice to be heard by any of the others, but it is not that way with chickens and their pecking order. It might be that way with people, but it’s just not that way with chickens and not that way with Emily.

If Emily senses or sees danger, her eyes lock on it. Her body locks on it. The only movement she makes is with her throat muscles as she makes a low, specialized sound to the others to warn them.

Everyone else freezes, looking in whatever direction they happen to be facing, searching for danger. No one else makes a sound, only Emily. Whatever it might be, Emily is in charge. All of the others listen attentively to her and watch.

Any of them can be the one who spots the danger and takes charge. It just seems to be Emily most often because she is more attuned to her surroundings than the others.

Perhaps there are special survival skills one develops by being at the bottom.

With chickens, no one is discounted or treated as worthless. The safety of the flock depends on everyone, including its weakest and least member. This is true even when they are the only one of their kind, like Emily.

With chickens, their pecking order is not about authoritarian rulership. With people, too often those in authority either refuse to hear or do all they can to silence the most defenseless voices. Don’t ever let your voice be silenced when you know things are not as they should be.

My Life With Gracie reminded me even the smallest voice matters.

I will do my best to post each Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. This week I am a little off schedule. How to draw Emily and what kind of background to use were my main challenges. It also took time to put together my thoughts for what to say to my readers who may feel like they don’t matter, are treated differently, and have no voice. Every “Like,” “Follow,” and “Comment” is truly appreciated!