Speaking Volumes

Last night we had a Mother-Daughter Book Club meeting. Each month a different mother-daughter 'set' hosts the club by bringing a snack, asking some discussion questions, and providing some sort of craft or activity.  The book we read this month was Hanne’s Quest, by Olivier Dunrea. The book is about a small chicken (Hanne – pronounced Hannah) that has to go on three quests in order to lay golden eggs to save the farm she lives on.

Conveniently enough, the mother and daughter who hosted last night own A LOT of chickens, so not only did they do a great job leading the meeting, but they were also able to answer all of our chicken questions! One thing we were all surprised to learn is that chickens are omnivores – they like meat! I am not a farm girl, so I guess I always assumed that they just ate grain and corn. The mom hosting said that she would never buy a chicken at the grocery store that was labeled ‘vegetarian fed’ because chickens are meant to be omnivores. The mom/daughter team also told us how vicious chickens can be, not to humans, but to each other.

So, this morning I was telling Su all the new chicken info I learned last night, and she proceeds to tell me about a PBS documentary were a woman gave her favorite chicken mouth to mouth resuscitation after it was lost in a blizzard! I looked up the documentary online; it’s called The Natural History of the Chicken. Not only does it feature mouth-to-beak CPR, it also shows a woman who has a pet rooster that she drives around with, dresses in diapers, AND washes and blow-dries daily, after they swim laps in her pool! Lovely!

Lots of wacky chicken stuff folks. Here are MY favorite stories about chickens:

Have a great weekend!