What greater gift than the love of a cat ~ Charles Dickens.
I have been adored by cats for all of my life. The feeling is mutual. Our only difference of opinion is our bird life. I think the birds should be left alone to get on with their birdy lives. Most of our cats have believed birds are there for the hunting, which is slightly problematic when you have 1/2 a dozen birdbaths out for the wildlife then proceed to acquire chickens.
This is my second venture into chicken keeping. We did it with the kiddies: rescue ISA Browns, bantams & a black leghorn. It was very makeshift, just an old trampoline frame inverted & covered with wire. We are more up class this time: a proper coop with nesting boxes & a roost. I paid good money for these birds & I was fussy. I have grandchildren now, little urbanites with no idea how to treat an aggressive rooster who believes it is his duty to attack all & sundry.
Our very first chickens, gifted to us, turned out to be a batch of young cockerels & no~one needs 1/2 a dozen cockerels. They went to a new home because I couldn't bear to pot them. Their new owners had no such qualms so... I wanted no more unhappy endings.
Everyone round here has ISA Browns. They are a sturdy, good layer & easy to get hold off, even on the island but...in my eyes as ugly as sin. I wanted pretty birds who laid well & were people friendly because, as I said, grandchildren...
The internet is a wonderful thing. Enthusiasts of all descriptions have found a corner of the internet to call their own so I read & I read, then I read some more. One day I may get my silver laced Wyandottes, my Campines, my Orpingtons but not yet. The first 2 are flighty prima donnas & the Orps too big for my smallish coop ~ though I nearly gave in. Such, lovely, lovely birds.
What I opted for were 2 black Australorps already laying & 3 Barred Plymouth Rocks, because they are autosexed & there was no chance of having to decide what to do with unwanted roosters. They are calm, people friendly birds who lay well & I am just waiting on my last girl to grow out her comb & come onto the lay.
I got my birds from here: http://www.beautifulchickens.net/breed-info.php. My youngest & I made a day of it because it is over an hour each way from the barge & The Man said to take the island car rather than the mainland one because it would save the chickens the extra trauma of being lugged on the ferry with all the dogs. Worth all the time & trouble. Everything was immaculate & the birds in super condition. We are getting eggs to keep & enough to give away & even The Man is talking about extending my brood.
Only Kirby is less sure. The only cat I've ever owned who seriously considered taking on a full grown chook. They are too big for him so he has taken to spaying around the coop & sitting on the coop roof. Not sure what he thinks he's achieving but the chooks are ignoring him.