I love all animals, and a few years ago, I used to have pet chickens! Sadly, they passed away, but I have a few pieces of art I created to remember them by!

Chickens each have unique personalities, and are very quirky. A lot of people don’t think of them as pets, but they actually make amazing pets! How many people can say their pets give them eggs for breakfast every morning? Chickens can be very rewarding pets, as they eat a lot of nasty bugs and provide food for you almost every day! For the 2 years I had my chickens, we didn’t buy any eggs! Now, certain breeds of chickens provide more eggs, while other breeds may provide less. I had a mix of strong egg layers and weak egg layers, but I loved them all the same!

My first and favorite piece of art is a photograph I took of my little sister holding my smallest chicken, a white Silkie named Izel! The photo is called “Twinning”, and won a gold key and got nominated for the American Vision Award in the 2015 Scholastic Art Awards! Izel was the smallest chicken I had, but she had the most attitude! I remember it took a while to get this picture, because Izel couldn’t stay still! It’s a great memory that I’ll cherish forever!

“Twinning” 2015

Now, since I’m an Illustration major, my next piece is a cartoon version of one of my other chickens, Xanadu. I made her into a “nerd bird” complete with glasses, and a pencil in her beak! I wanted her to look extra cartoony, so I put a thick black outline around her head. I created her in Illustrator a few years ago, and might try and redo it soon just to see how far I’ve come, art wise!

“Nerd Bird” 2016

Chickens make great pets! If you’re considering looking into raising pet chickens, https://www.mypetchicken.com/ this is an amazing website where you can find answers to any questions or concerns you might have about pet chickens!