Tuesday, December 18, 2007

My Secret Chicken Love Affair

A collection I am resisting



Chickens on their nests

Long-tailed roostersTrue confession: I am attracted to chickens. There's nothing kinky about it. I simply admire their handsome appearance.

I've been admiring the currently-popular chicken knick-knacks ever since the fad started. At Clarksville yesterday, I saw some nice tributes to chickens at Hobby Lobby, but I resisted buying any of them. I didn't even look at their prices. I just took their pictures.

I've only had real chickens once in my life, about 32 years ago or so. I was working at Empire Gas of Hermitage, MO, and I rented a little mobile home near there from a lady who wanted to move back to Kansas City.

Chicken at Hobby LobbyMy landlady had about a dozen chickens, which I inherited when she moved out and I moved in. My favorites were the black-and-white speckled ones. I think they were Barred Plymouth Rocks.

My boss liked my black and white chickens, too. He was always wanting me to bring in some of their little speckled fuzz-feathers so he could make them into fishing flies. He had a spell of good luck catching crappies with them, and he always hoped to repeat that success.

Made in China chickenYou can see a couple of good drawings of Barred Plymouth Rock chickens at the Oklahoma State University Animal Science website. Another good photo has been uploaded to Mother Earth News by Robin Arnold of Port Clinton, Ohio.

At the blog, "Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere," Sarpy Sam sometimes posts some good photos of his Darling Wife's chickens. You can find them by visiting the Sarpy Sam's photo archives and typing "chickens" into the archives. (You'll find many beautiful photos of Montana ranch country there, as well.)

Though I like chickens, I don't think I'll probably ever own another flock of them, real or otherwise. I am not that excited about the responsibility of taking care of them, and really, we don't use too many eggs.

The family got me a nice large rooster with metal tail feathers last Christmas. Unfortunately the cats knocked him off his perch, and his body, which wasn't metal, shattered.

Another Chinese chickenI do have a set of rooster salt and pepper shakers which Keely gave me, and a hen-on-a-nestegg bank that my friend Cynthia gave me a couple of years ago. However, I refuse to start a serious chicken collection. I have plenty of collections already.

6 comments:

Keely said...

But you forgot about your clock. It's a rooster, too.

Genevieve Netz said...

Hi, Keely. Yes, I did forget my clock. I was just thinking about my 3-D, free-standing chickens, I guess.

My kitchen clock, given to me by Keely, has a very cute black and white speckled chicken on it.

Anonymous said...

I like your chickens. I know a young woman who loves pigs, and sometimes all of the pig-related decor gets a bit much.

Pablo
http://www.roundrockjournal.com

Unknown said...

My wife loves chickens TOO! They are all over our kitchen cabinets, high-up. Her collection is still growing as well and I know a new cat can't help :) later, ken

ps: Comment butter-ups ...NO!!!way.

Genevieve Netz said...

Hi, Pablo. Pigs have never appealed to me nearly as much as chickens do. However, there are some pig things that are pretty cute.

At one point in my kitchen decor, I had three pig picture frames. Inside each, I placed a frequently used recipe (cornbread, biscuits, and dinner rolls.) It was really convenient to have the ingredients right there on the wall above my countertop.

Then I painted the kitchen a new color and the pigs had to go...

Genevieve Netz said...

Kenneth, there are so many cute chickens that I wouldn't be able to stop if I ever started collecting, and I don't have a good place to put them. It's best for me to abstain, I think.

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