During our first week since opening CLUCK, the Chicken Store, I've learned many things, but what really stands out is that chickens make people happy. At least once every day, a chicken-keeping visitor to the store will tell me, often in a whisper, that they feel a bit weird admitting that they have a chair out near their coop, or the run where they keep their chickens.

"I just like sitting there, you know? They kind of make me feel grounded...centered. I like to listen to them, I like to look at them. When I'm near them, the world seems like a more peaceful place." That's how one customer defined it, and in one way or another it's been echoed, many times, day after day.

I felt that way myself when I came home this evening and my hens were cruising through the prairie, grabbing up grasshoppers, occasionally popping their heads up near the porch, hoping for a treat of crackers or cheese (these are Wisconsin birds, after all!). So I sat back, and relaxed, and laughed, watching them. All was good in our world.