louise on the left (coast)

Back in April I first wrote about some women I knew who had suddenly decided to keep  chickens in their backyards as pets . At the time I thought this was just some recession-inspired trend, but apparently there were more sentimental reasons for this new affection for our feathered friends, the humble chicken. Today I stumbled across this piece on  Urlesque regarding the literary Susan Orlean   rhapsodizing about her newest obsession, chickens. Now, I don't want to sound like a hypocrite, because I happen to think miniature horses would be great eco-friendly backyard pet.  My feeling is that they would be companions who could both eat and fertilize our yards all at the same time. However, finding chickens cute just kind-of surprises me, because I think chickens are kind-of scary. Apparently, so does  Wendy Ann Gardner , as evidenced in her children's book Heedley Pecked Me in the Eye (Naughty Naughty Pets) (Hardcover) If you care to read it for yourself, you can order