Never think aloud. I made that mistake when I reflected to my granddaughter Emma that I might get backyard hens. Now she keeps asking me if I will get chickens. I like the peaceful clucking of hens and I like eggs. Of course the only experience I have had with chickens was in my childhood, when I had to slide my hand under the hens in my aunt’s coop and steal their eggs without getting my hand pecked. I have plenty of room here for a coop and a run. There are two problems. The first are the predators on my property: the foxes, the hawks, and the black snakes. I would have to purchase a very secure coop and run. The second is my energy level. I have read that a few backyard hens take no more time than a couple of cats and that you can set a timer to open the coop door in the morning and shut it at night. But I don’t know that I want to add another living creature to my life. Right now I have a sweet old dog, two old cats, a fish tank whose inhabitants regularly die, the houseplants, and the wild birds that I feed. Bill used to take care of feeding the wild birds, but now that is my job. Every day there is something to feed or water or clean up after.  So when Emma asks me, “Have you decided about chickens?” I answer, “Probably not…but I don’t know.”

And this week I have two visiting mares grazing in my pastures and they are wanting their grain for dinner so I must go feed them. Having had horses here for about eight years when my daughter was young, I do know that these beautiful creatures are a lot more work than chickens!