The Funky Chicken: Memories, Truth & Tribute

Chickens are the new trendy pet. They’re easy to house, friendly, functional, and truly fascinating. Fifty years ago, many families had a chicken coop on their property and a flock of hens for eggs and meat. That tradition virtually disappeared with the advent of large-scale, intensive poultry farms. By the 1960s, chickens were kept almost exclusively in rural areas. But chicken-keeping, at least on a small scale, is making a fast comeback. Families—even in dense urban settings—are recognizing the value of owning chickens and eating healthful fresh eggs and meat, and they love these amazing and entertaining pets.

Part memoir and part minutia, The Funky Chicken: Memories, Truth, & Trivia is the author’s fond remembrance of growing up in rural Western Maryland in the 1950s and early 1960s tending her family’s flock of Plymouth White Rocks. One fowl character in particular, a proud rooster named Putter, plays center stage and unwittingly delivers genuine life lessons. The story is nostalgic, heartwarming, a bit comical and fun, yet sometimes sad—a glimpse of bucolic, mid-twentieth century life in a large family. A bonus is the extensive trivia portion of the book, rife with “all things chicken.” Sections focus on the history of our favored fowl, fascinating facts and myths, proverbs, poetry, classic tales, quotes, folklore, holidays and crafts, food ways, and family recipes. This is not a “how-to” book, though it contains a wealth of essential information. Instead, it’s a “how-fun” look at keeping chickens yesterday and today and a tribute to their role in human history and, in particular, the author's childhood.