Lauren Scheuer—veteran illustrator who maintains the popular blog, “Scratch And Peck,” and author of the new book, “Once Upon A Flock: Life With My Soulful Chickens”—discusses what prompted her to bring a flock of chickens to her home, driven in part by her intense love of power tools and passion for projects where you can use those tools.
Scheuer also addresses the key steps for people who might be intrigued by the notion of raising 
backyard chickens, yet intimidated by what they know (and don’t know) about this enterprise. She described some members of the flock, particularly Lucy, who developed a neurological disease (Marek’s) and later exhibited a strong nesting instinct….going “broody.” Scheuer also speaks to the emotional complexity of chickens, while noting one member of the flock, Lil’ White, is a full-blown nutjob. (http://laurenscheuer.com , http://scratchandpeck.blogspot.com)
ALSO: We speak briefly with Scott Daly, Executive Director of Pet Pal Animal Shelter in St. Petersburg, which was mere days away from holding its 11th annual Puppy Love fundraising dinner. (www.petpalanimalshelter.com)
Listen Online Now:
COMEDY CORNER: Todd Barry’s “Prairie Dogs” (www.toddbarry.com)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Geraint Watkins’ “Turn That Chicken Down,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Echo & The Bunnymen’s “Crocodiles”
Tags: backyard chickens, Barred Plymouth Rocks, Marek's Disease
I started out w/3 baby rhode island red chicks.Now I have one left after a raccoon attack and a cat attack when they were not fully grown.Her name is Big Bird and is very aggressive and fought off a raccoon as well as escaping after an attack.She is very mean but also tame.She loves raw meat esp beef.She prefers pinkie mice and lizards over chicken feed or bread,sits on my lap,tries to spar w/me sometimes and even knows her name and knows what the word “no” means.She comes in the house every night now and goes out in the morning.Cats are now afraid of her and she chases them away.The other one who made it to adulthood before getting eaten tried to get me to mate w/her.If you don’t believe me I can elaborate.I will soon have a video on youtube of Big Bird jumping up on my lap,eating chunks of bloody steak as well as pinkie and fuzzy mice,the same kind that people feed to pet snakes. Aquamanerik.