We had the pleasure this year of spending New Years with some fabulous friends.  For Christmas, my friend received a DVD of the PBS broadcast The Natural History of the Chicken.  Over homemade chai tea, we watched the DVD comprised of chicken vignettes.  A few of the stories we watched included one about a woman who gave CPR to her frozen chicken, a man who raised 100 roosters in his backyard much to their neighbor’s dismay and a story about Mike the headless chicken who lived for a year and traveled the world with his owners.

While watching, I had a revelation. Some owners viewed the chickens as farm animals and others viewed them as pets.  One eccentric woman had a very loving relationship with her chicken.  She swam in a swimming pool with her bird, bathed it in baby shampoo and gave it a blow dry!  On trips in the car, the chicken rode in the front passenger seat in a special booster seat.  It could gaze out the window.  She even brought it into the supermarket with her! 

I was glad to see that there were people out there in the world who own chickens that feel the same way as I do.  My love of their personalities, their virtues, and their wonderful attributes are shared by others.  Granted, I’m not sure about letting one live in the house, but who knows.  When my children grow-up and leave the nest, a chicken just might fill the void.  However, I’m not sure what my husband would think!