The chicken debate ends, Francois comes out alive and victorious

In my Adventures in Food column that ran in today's paper, I wrote about my family's chicken conundrum . The dilemma surrounds Francois, our five-year-old nonlaying hen who has become quite the family pet. Because we are in the midst of relocating from St. Louis, we need to find her a home or else slaughter her since we can't have chickens in our Atlanta apartment.

Based on the emails and text messages I received throughout the day, many people seem to have been affected by Francois’ life-or-death situation. Most pleaded that we not kill her. There were also gracious offers from Atlantans to take Francois into their flock. Here’s an example: “My 10-year-old daughter has eight chickens in our backyard coop in Druid Hills. She would love to have Francois if you are still looking for a home for her. Our chickens do lay eggs but are considered to be our pets. She loves them like children! If you want to stop by and see their living arrangement to see if it would work for Francois, please let me know.”

I never thought I’d fall in love with these animals. But in the five years we’ve raised these birds, I learned that they have such personalities! That’s why I talked to them as if they were toddlers, and when talking about them, I spoke in human terms like “put them to bed” or “wake them up.” That this reader was willing to let me “see their living arrangement” tells me that other people are as enraptured with this farm animal as I am.