When I was a child, we lived in the country, and my mama kept chickens. My sister and I loved those chickens so much that sometimes we even baptized them to assure their eternal salvation--or just to aggravate them, I'm not sure which.
When Mama ceased keeping chickens and sold them all, there was one hen who was "sitting," meaning she had a nest of eggs about to hatch (actually, we called it "settin'"). We brought those eggs into the house and coddled them under and light bulb. Only one of them hatched. (Insert shark music from "Jaws" here.)
We raised that little feathered friend as a pet, and as an only chicken, he became spoiled rotten. That little yellow fellow turned into the meanest little bantam rooster that ever pecked his way out of an egg. Although he was a pure pet, he was also a demon, a poultry-geist. We could no longer play with him for all his pecking. He would actually hide behind bushes and buildings and jump out on you as you walked by, pecking and flogging. We definitely had a love/hate relationship with little...what was his name now? I don't remember.
Before he got to be a hellion, we would take him on picnics and fishing trips. He had his own little cage that he traveled in. Once at our location, we would let him out and he'd go around pecking for bugs and worms until time to go home. He even traveled with us once to Tullahoma, Tennesse, to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins.
When he got so mean and so big that everyone was afraid to venture out of the house and he held us virtual hostages, Daddy made a deal with a friend to trade that chicken for some rabbits. My sister and I cried. "They'll kill him!" we bawled. So Daddy made the man who took him promise not to kill him. (At least that's what he said; but we heard a couple of days later that our chicken served as Sunday dinner soon afterwards, having put a particular hurt some member of the family.)
Even though he was a vicious little foul, and I'm sure he deserved what he got, I've always remembered that little bantam with fondness.
And I've always wanted to keep chickens, like Mama did. If I thought the neighbors wouldn't object or the free-ranging dogs wouldn't have my girls for supper, I'd build me a henhouse. It wouldn't be just a utilitarian henhouse like Mama had. I'd put my girls in very fashionable digs, like this one I found at Jill's Hickory Hollow blog. A wall-papered henshouse with antique-white nesting boxes! Did a hen ever have such cozy accommodations? Jill even hung cross-stitched art on the wall. Now that's the kind of henhouse I want.
I went surfing and found that Jill isn't the only one who thinks her girls deserve a pretty house. I found charming henhouses and chicken coops all over the internet. Below are a few of my favorites. Be sure to click on Jill's link above to see more of her darling little Victorian henhouse.
My childhood friend Lloyd lives in the country and keeps chickens. Recently he acquired a new batch of little peeps. They're now big peeps. When Lloyd showed his babies on his Facebook page, my desire for chickens renewed itself. I bet if I built a pretty little chicken house like the ones in the pictures, the neighbors wouldn't object. But maybe I better take a look at our covenant rules before I decide, huh?
PAAAAAAAAAWK!
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On 04/21/2010, Mandi said ...
We had chickens when we lived in Alabama, but couldn't find a neighborhood here in North Carolina that would allow them. In all the covenant rules they are usually classified under "offensive animals".
You would think with the state of the economy people would change the rules to allow them. I miss having chickens.
On 04/21/2010, Sandy said ...
I'm right there with you Susan. I would love to have chickens. Our neighborhood rules won't allow it though. We can have a horse but no chickens. Go figure! My Daddy always raised chickens until he figured out it was costing him a fortune to keep the neighbor's dogs fed. And there's nothing quite as exhilirating as fresh chicken poop squishing up between your barefoot toes in the summertime. That's a feeling everybody should have!!! One day my Daddy reached in a barrell to collect the eggs and came out with a copperhead snake. Yikes!! Used a flashlight from then on. Thanks for the memories!
On 04/21/2010, Joanne said ...
Once on the mountain, I was flogged by a big old "Dominicker" rooster. No chickens for me, thanks. No ducks or geese, either--I've been injured by both. Guineas, now--that's another matter. Sweet little fowls.
On 04/21/2010, Lloyd Johnson said ...
We always had chickens when I was growing up. Whether we lived in town or in the country. I raised 4-H Club chickens for three years, won 2nd place once and 1st twice. We would get 100 chicks to raise in the spring the take our best to the county fair to show and be judged in the fall. They would be auctioned off to the highest bidder and that money would pay for our chicks..(I think it was 10 or 12 pullets we auctioned off) Twice the buyers followed me home and bought as many as I would sell them and that was my profit....Plus the Eggs......Those are fond memories of my youth and I get to relive them by keeping a few hens these days....
On 04/21/2010, Nicole said ...
Your post today is hilarious. I have to be sure my sister Andrea sees it. She is in the process of converting her goat pen (I mean palace) into a chicken house.
On 04/21/2010, Andrea said ...
This is just about the funniest post I have ever read. Yep - I am getting in on the chicken craze. Now I just have to explain to my husband exactly why he has to wall-paper our new chicken coop....
On 04/21/2010, Barbara Anne said ...
Toooo funny she says as she gets back into her chair after falling on the floor laughing!!!! The wall paper is charming and the pictured hen houses are too sweet.
No chickens for me since the hen house must be cleaned often (or too often for me) so the hens stay healthy. No thank you! Besides, I have immune system issues, so have to stay away from such. See me smiling?!
Hugs!
On 04/21/2010, Alathia said ...
LOL! I grew up in rural Missouri and we had a chicken coop and a mean ole rooster, too. There was a 2x4 outside the front door with that rooster's name all over it! Someone in the family knocked him out cold once on the walk to the bus stop. After he flogged my youngest sister, Dad finally dealt with the mean ole rooster with his pistol. Me and my sisters stood in the doorway and cheered.
On 04/21/2010, KAI said ...
REMINDER TO MYSELF: From now on, never read Susan's posts while you are taking sips of Earl Grey. Sprayed tea does nothing positive for a monitor! LOL! Poultry-geist! BWAHAHAHAHAHA...GASP! You HAVE to hurry and write your book. You really DO! The neighbors may not appreciate chickens, but they would LOVE anything you write! I KNOW I WOULD! My grandmother also raised chickens &, much as she loved her darlings, she could wring the daylights out of a chicken neck when guests showed up for Sunday breakfast. Yes! Fried chicken and gravy, biscuits and eggs for BREAKFAST. And she had a Rhode Island Red who was a real terror! Sounded a lot like your naughty chicky! LOVED this post!
On 04/21/2010, Deb said ...
Susan ~ I love the idea of going out and getting your own fresh eggs, but I'm just not sure I could stomach chickens and their mess and meanness. Our covenants in our area say "no" to poultry ... so I'm saved from having to think about it. :)
On 04/21/2010, Karla Nathan said ...
That happened with our banty rooster too! He started out as a sweetie that I could carry around, but turned into an attack chicken that I was afraid of. My husband used to tease me and say I was the chicken, not the bird!
On 04/21/2010, Marla said ...
My mom had chickens too--for pets. She had those kind with the
big fluffy feet. This was 15 years or so ago one county away.
Daddy made a shed into their home and every night they would
''walk the plank'' into their little house for the night. Mother would sometimes put plastic eggs under the the hens--can't remember
what was the reason for that. Her favorite was the rooster named
Rambo. He would fly at anyone who got too close to her in the
backyard. Don't miss Rambo but I still miss Mother.
On 04/21/2010, Kelly Ann said ...
First Judy over at http://www.patchworktimes.com/ wanted chickens and got them...now you...but now that I've seen your chicken houses I'm wanting some chicks in my back yard...
On 04/22/2010, Sandra Neel Hutchins said ...
I loved your chicken stories! You are a gifted writer.
On 04/22/2010, Sandra Clarke said ...
Hi Susan, I enjoy your blog. I too grew up with chickens and poultry was my main project in 4-H Club. Do you ever look at Judy Laquidera's blog? She has always had a love for chickens and her husband built her a very nice hen house. She is a quilter and recently published a new book "Weekend Quilts" . She is an amazing quilter as she gets the most done and also does a lot of cooking and recipe sharing. She often writes about her chickens. Sandra
On 04/22/2010, Sandra Clarke said ...
Susan, I forgot to give the name of Judy L. blog, it is patchwork times. Sandra
On 04/22/2010, Trudy Neill of Windemere Farm said ...
I am just laughing here. Windemere Farm has had poultry for as long as I can remember. We sell the lovely brown eggs and have had such varieties of chickens too! My best memory is of a Rhode Island Red rooster we named Freddy Kruger. He was pure evil...and would flog the heck out of you when you entered the hen house. (no wall paper in ours, just occasional cob webs!). Anyhow, Freddie once flogged me to the ground and left my neck and throat bruised from his spurs. Not long after either my son, John, or his dad...took a two by four to Freddy and that was his last flog. I love the banties but my favorites are the Buffs who are fat, gentle girls and have no malice at all! Cleaning the hen house is one nasty job...but the fresh clean straw makes us smile! Have fun dreaming of your chickens!
On 04/22/2010, Courtney Short-Prudhomme said ...
now you know where i am on this issue!! I understand you wanting them.. Im trying to ease the hubs into getting us a few :-)
On 04/22/2010, ashleigh said ...
I read this and thought uh-oh my cats are going to kill them all!! I know they did a number on Vann's bird house (sorry about that by the way). I just know that they would be a far greater threat than the dogs. :( Sorry you live next to menaces. Maybe once that the cats are gone dad will get a dog after he gets out of therapy over Josh (the black cat's) death. Miss you!! and Soph! We'll be home the first week of may!!
On 04/22/2010, Ramey said ...
That bottom picture looks just like the hateful thing! His name was Chicken Little. The meanest chicken in Alabama.
On 04/23/2010, Vickie Limberger said ...
Hi,
I have chickens and love them. The eggs are so fresh. We free range, because we have land, but I don't know what it would be like to have neighbors so close.
I read this lady's blog, and she has chickens that stay in a cage that she can move from place to place around the yard. http://www.patchworktimes.com/
On 04/23/2010, Brenda Kula said ...
Yep, as a kid living at my great-grandma's house, I was in charge of gathering the eggs. I'd enter the fence in trepidation, for that rooster would be waiting! Have you ever read Jayme's Tales From The Coop Keeper blog? She just lost her Helen, a sweet chicken she had in diapers in her house for awhile while Helen convalesced. We were all so sad.
Brenda
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Can't visit much this morning--got places to go. But I did want to show you a little bit of the newest issue of Love of Quilting magazine. I think it's the best one they've done in several issues. I saw several projects I'd love to make, especially the Irish Chain quilt. I just love that one.
