Eggs and Chickens

Watercolor 5 by 7 on textured clayboard

Years ago I raised chickens I ordered 100 baby chicks from Murray Mc Murray. They came in the mail. I raised them in my son’s old playpen in the kitchen. After the chicks were out on their own we threw the playpen away. The chickens were some of the most entertaining pets I ever had. My ex wanted some for the table. For a couple of weeks before butchering. We feed the birds cracked corn and powdered milk. My father-in–law came over and butchered a couple dozen of them for me. I wrapped them up in freezer paper then put them in the freezer. I fixed some for dinner by far the best chicken I ever tasted nothing like what we get from the store. I decided it felt to much like eating my pets I thought they were just chickens I hadn’t realized they were pets. The next day I took all the chickens out of the freezer and gave them to my friend Barbara. They may have been the best birds I ever ate but I still wasn’t eating them and I certainly wasn’t going to cook anymore of them. Later a friend of mine gave me a Lt Brahma rooster for eating, so I named him La King. In spite of the name he became one of my favorite birds, he grew up to be a magnificent rooster in charge of the chicken yard.