I always like the idea of keeping chickens and geese, thats as far as I got. I appreciate the few friends I have that hand me those beautiful deep orange yolked eggs. I lost my good friend that kept me well supplied this past year, he kept his yard birds in a little coop that had wheels on it, he would move them to a new part of his large yard a time or two each day. In the evening he put them in the coop, they were well trained for chickens. They always taste so much better than just about any chicken you can buy. My grandparents always kept chickens, after grandma left grandpa he hired a housekeeper that kept banty chickens in the garden. I used to enjoy watching those little buggers eat potato beetles off granpa's potato plants, they'd jump up and pick them off quick as you please. Grandpa loved that little banty rooster, he'd chase the big Rhode Island red rooster all over the place. Edna always complained when the local red tailed hawk would nab one of her poulets. She'd yell at grandpa, "Thet ******ned hawk got another one of my poulets." Grandpa would say "Well....Hawks gotta eat too." A couple days later, I was in eatin my morning mush, grandpa was out on the porch drinking his morning coffee and pulling his work boots on. I heard him exlaim "******mmmnnn" heard his chair legs hit the porch and he clumped into the house, reaching up over the door for his Ought-Six, out the door he went. I dropped my spoon and ran out to see what the commotion was, grandpa was racking a round into the rifle and aiming skyward. I looked up at this old dead standing Tamarack that was the hawk's favorite look-out to see him up there tearing feathers off something. Grandpa took careful aim and fired, blasting the hawk into a puff of feather. He unloaded the rifle and turned toward the house, I asked "What happened Grandpa." He ruffled my head on the way into the house and simply said "******ned hawk got my rooster."
