Chickens. Red chickens. Black chickens. White chickens. Mean roosters. Nice roosters. We had them all. Mama saw to it that the chickens had a coop and boxes to lay eggs. Green eggs, white eggs and brown eggs. Gathering eggs was one of our regular chores and well worth the reward. "Farm Fresh" eggs make everything taste better from French toast to cakes to just good ol' scrambled eggs.
And if chickens weren't enough to tend to, Mama brought home guineas. Said she liked the looks of them and the noise they made. When upset or unsettled, those guineas can squawk for several minutes. As kids we called them "pot-racks" because it was the best description we could think of to describe their squawks.
Let's not forget the peacocks that we inherited by migration from a neighboring ranch. Absolutely one of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen, they are also one of the most annoying of birds. They do not like loud noises at all and when one peacock hollers they all holler. They will bloody themselves fighting their own reflections. Hub caps and chrome bumpers can be a peacock's worst enemy.
Throw in two domestic white turkeys that were mean as heck. The turkeys had a knack for sneaking up behind whomever was throwing out feed with the intent of a good old-fashioned flogging. One turkey met its demise when Daddy hit it with the metal feed bucket. RIP mean turkey. We didn't cry over that loss.
Chickens. We do not have any chickens at the end of our dirt road due to the amount of small predators looking for a hand out. However, Mama still raises Rhode Island Reds and a smattering of some other kind of chickens. The best part is she keeps me stocked with those "farm fresh" eggs which still make French toast and baked goods taste wonderful. And it is hard to beat (pun intended) good ol' fashioned scrambled eggs.
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