Mike Fields
Today I got a wonderful surprise from my neighbor, Doris Sexson, a beautiful painting of my favorite rooster and hens.
Three years back we were visiting some friends in Louisiana that raised a few back yard chickens for their eggs. I was so fascinated by the antics and the eggs. I started reading everything I could about raising backyard chickens and learned it was a growing trend for a self sustainable life style free from all the hormones and antibiotics that the industrial farms were poisoning us with. So we started to explore the idea of getting a special use permit to have a limited small flock of birds here in the Bay.
Permit in hand and permission from all our closest neighbors, especially Doris and Jim Sexson, we started with four little French Black Copper Marans , a rare breed here in the U.S.
Our cute little chicks finally grew into a medium sized birds consisting of one very beautiful rooster named Louie and three hens, Marie, Joyce, and Jeanie. All our friends love them, come to visit and look after them in our absents. Louie and the girls like to roam the wooded lots and visit Doris and Jim on regular basis. They like to watch the flock foraging and interacting. They all know their names, come running when called and will eat treats out of your hand. Much to my surprise chickens are quite intelligent, can be taught the rules of the yard. When talked to they give you their full attention squawking and clucking back to you. Louie is quite the leader of his little band. They eat all the wild seeds, bugs, ticks and snakes that they find. Ticks were a big problem here, I was bitten and infected with Lyme disease, a particular nasty one. Now with the chickens I rarely see a tick or poisonous snake. My little flock provide us with the most beautiful, tasteful, chocolate colored eggs that are delicious and free from all the harmful byproducts. I share all the excess eggs with friends and neighbors. All the waste goes into a compost pile and then into the garden to eliminate the using of chemical fertilizer. We love our little friends and would encourage anyone who wants a pet that gives back in the form of love and eggs to give it a try.