In Praise of Enlightening Report on the Real Lives of Chickens

A very special thanks to Howard Rosenberg for his witty, heartfelt review of PBS’ “A Natural History of the Chicken” (“Celebrating the Chicken With a Grain of Irony,” July 9). Chickens are truly remarkable, intelligent animals. I’ve had many people tell me stories of their chickens that would shatter people’s concepts of chickens being dumb or unfeeling.

SHERRILL DURBIN

Mounds, Okla.

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My wife and I have nine hens in our backyard. Our grandchildren get the biggest kick out of them and have learned to treat them with love and understanding. We distribute the eggs to neighbors who relish them. I hand-feed the girls each evening with Spam, leftover meats, pizza, etc., and they eat everything with gusto. Of course they also get their laying mash, corn, oyster shells and fresh lettuce daily.

Come visit sometime, Howard, and we’ll introduce you to Cleopatra, Fluffy, Julie Harris, Emily Dickinson, Granny Goose, Principessa and our three newest arrivals--Patty, LaVerne and Maxene.

ED GAZICH

Laguna Beach

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It was a pleasure reading Rosenberg on Mark Lewis’ enlightening new film. Chickens are cheerful creatures, which is a great reason for having them near. They lift my spirits. Chickens are, quite simply, to quote a poet (Matthew Arnold), “a joy whose grounds are true.” (And no, they are not food for us except as in “for the spirit.”)

KAREN DAVIS

President, United Poultry

Concerns Inc., Machipongo, Va.

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Rosenberg dares to relay to his readers the appalling acts of institutional animal cruelty in our corporate culture. The sad situation is that many folks partaking in the consumption of products derived from the heart-wrenching suffering of animals are not even aware of the means by which their meat, or their detergent, or their makeup, etc., were made available to them. This is because the single biggest source of public information is the media, which is beholden to the advertisers that make their papers or TV shows or magazines possible.

So I applaud Rosenberg and The Times for doing what the news media should: telling the truth, no matter who is paying for it.

JOHANNA McCLOY

Founder, Soy Happy!

Los Angeles