Lauren Scheuer and Lucy the Barred Rock – photo courtesy of Lauren Scheuer
Whether a chicken has a qualitative conscious state of being is surprisingly a matter up for debate.
Recently, a co-worker told me that chickens do not have any feelings. He went so far as to even doubt whether chickens are fully self-aware. I was dumbstruck by what he was quite seriously suggesting. As he shared his opinions, I could barely stop myself from blurting out, “You obviously know nothing about chickens!” Of course chickens have feelings, as well as personalities, emotions and self-awareness – any chicken-owner can tell you as much. However, upon greater reflection, it struck me that my co-worker is not alone in his sentiments. In fact the prevailing attitude might be closer to his point of view than mine.
Lauren Scheuer joins me this week on the Urban Chicken Podcast, to talk about her experiences raising soulful backyard chickens. Her shared tales of chicken language, humor and compassion certainly contradict any beliefs that chickens lack self-awareness.
Lauren Scheuer is a formally trained artist (holding a Bachelors of Fine Arts from U.C.L.A.) and works as a professional illustrator. Her drawings are regularly featured in American Girl magazine. Lauren has also illustrated several children’s books and has provided drawing for other magazines, the Boston Museum of Science and the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island.
Lucy – photo courtesy Lauren Scheuer
Lauren’s work with chickens began five and a half years ago when she got her own foursome of hens for the backyard. One of her first four hens, Lucy (a Barred Rock), suffered a terribly debilitating bout of Marek’s Disease, from which she miraculously survived but was left lame. It was during the careful nursing of Lucy through her illness inside her home, that Lauren first gained insight into the secret world of chickens.
Through simply spending countless hours in the garden with her hens, Lauren has learned all of the different personalities among her flock members. Her hens have slowly let Lauren in on their chicken world of relationships between the flock members, other animals and also with her, the human with all the snacks.
Lucy with her Book – Lauren Scheuer
Lauren has seen first-hand, unmistakable examples of compassion and friendship amongst her hens, as well as jealousy and rivalry. Lucy in particular, speaks to Lauren in “chicken.” This might sound far-fetched, but before you judge the ability of chickens to have a language, you might watch the fascinating Nature episode, “My Life as a Turkey.” This episode of Nature deals with the story of a wildlife artist who raised a flock of wild turkeys from hatchlings. Through his close interactions with these birds, he came to discover and understand the language and interpersonal relationships of his turkey flock. Arguably, turkeys are simply a large cousin to the chicken. (There is a link below to this full length Nature episode and also an embedded preview of the show.)
Feeling compelled to share Lucy’s story, Lauren began Scratch and Peck, her blog about her chickens. Scratch and Peck is different than other chicken-related blogs that are on-line. It reads like a story and is heavily illustrated. If I had to describe the Scratch and Peck blog in a single word, it would be: CHARMING.
Earlier this Spring Lauren published her first book, Once Upon a Flock: Life with My Soulful Chickens. The book is the story of Lucy and her flock mates. Though the book reads like a memoir, it also shares many valuable, practical tips about backyard chicken-keeping and coop building. The book is particularly gorgeous and very humorous, as it is fully illustrated with over 400 drawing and pictures! (See below the hardback and softback covers of Lauren’s book.)
The Nuggets Piggie Piled in Their Coop – courtesy Lauren Scheuer
Lauren shares on today’s show her vast knowledge of chicken-keeping, chicken personalities and emotions, and coop building (she is a self-admitted manic coop builder having constructed six different coops over the past five years!). Additionally, Lauren discusses her experience of writing Once Upon a Flock and gives the audience advice on how anybody can successfully draw pictures of their own chickens. In fact, here is a link to one of Lauren’s Scratch and Peck blog posts, in which she specifically gives the reader instructions on how to draw a chicken well. (LINK to Scratch and Peck post, “How to Draw a Chicken”)
Lucy Sketch – Lauren Scheuer
The stories contained in Lauren’s Scratch and Peck blog of her chickens and her dog Marky, have a loyal and enthusiastic following of fans. In my opinion, it is her ability to capture and share the essence of her birds in their daily lives and personal challenges and triumphs that make Lauren’s pictures and stories so compelling. If you have not already visited Lauren’s blog, Scratch and Peck, or checked out her book, Once Upon A Flock: Life With My Soulful Chickens, then you are truly missing out. Both the blog and book are well-worth your time!
As I promised in the text above, here is the link to the full episode of Nature with the wildlife artist who acted as a flock of wild turkeys’ “mother” and thereby learned their bird language, personalities and relationships. LINK to the full Nature episode, “My Life as a Turkey.”
Here is a video preview of the full episode:
MAIN SEGMENT:
- Scratch and Peck – Lauren’s Blog about her Chickens LINK
- Book Link – Once Upon a Flock: Life with My Soulful Chickens by Scheuer, Lauren (3/19/2013)
- Lauren Scheuer’s Once Upon a Flock: Life With My Soulful Chickens WEBPAGE
- Lauren Scheuer’s Twitter Feed LINK
- HGTV – Article on Lauren and her Book ARTICLE
- Inside the Author’s Studio – Interview with Lauren Scheuer INTERVIEW
- paperblog – Article About Lauren Scheuer & Book ARTICLE
- Lessons From the Flock – Blog post about Lauren Scheuer LINK
- Talking Animals – Interview with Lauren Scheuer AUDIO
- Lesa’s Book Critiques – Review of “Once Upon A Flock” BOOK REVIEW
- Parent’s – Mom’s Must Read – review of “Once Upon A Flock” BOOK REVIEW
- PerPETually Speaking – Animal Blogger review of Lauren’s book BOOK REVIEW
- CBS Boston – Lauren Scheuer advises on Fresh Eggs in Boston LINK
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