Member-only story
How Elvis The Chicken Won Me Over
And 3 things you should know before you get chickens.
In September wildfires tore through the neighboring community of Talent, Oregon and burned the town down to ash. I personally know ten families who lost everything. Two days after the burning beast devoured the place, I received a call from a friend who knew I had an empty chicken coop. A woman under mandatory evacuation needed a place to house her chickens.
My dad was helping me string fence that day and said with a smirk, “she’ll probably show up with seven roosters.” He meant it as a joke. The chicken lady indeed did arrive with exactly seven roosters, even to the surprise of my dad who laughed for three days.
These were unlike any roosters I had ever seen.
Their bodies were covered in black iridescent feathers with a slight green hue in the right light, but instead of the usual red comb on top of their heads they all had a white plume of long cascading feathers. A true headdress, beautiful and hilarious. The feathers bounce with every peck in the dirt and covers their sight above so they have to turn their head sideways to put an eye to the sky.
My house is one of two homes scattered on the land, nestled in the back corner of the property. It was built…
