As I drive around the rural areas in central West Virginia I notice that chickens have made something of a comeback. I see little makeshift enclosures along the creeks and up against the hillsides. Even the editor of this paper has written that she is getting in on the chicken business.

There was a time here in the hills when just about everyone had a flock of chickens. The practice then was to fence in the yard and give the chickens the run of the farm. All you needed was a hen house. The laying hens needed a place to roost that was free from predators and a cozy place to lay their eggs. Chickens were a low maintenance, income producing commodity for those who lived off the land.

My Grandma Kennedy always kept fifty or sixty head of laying hens. If you know anything about chickens, you know that fifty head of laying hens produce a bunch of eggs, more than a family could ever eat. So the surplus eggs were a commodity for barter at one of the local stores, or sometimes they were exchanged for cash.

Chickens also often provided the older generations the centerpiece for a meal, especially during the summer months after the hog meat from the previous fall had all been consumed. A big fat hen was the source of a chicken and dumplings meal. Or, if the family wanted a mess of fried chicken, they would kill a couple of young chickens, or pullets. If you have never eaten a fresh killed chicken, you probably do not know what chicken really tastes like.

Back in those halcyon days before telephones were common, Grandma never knew anyone was coming for Sunday dinner until she heard them coming over the hill. Once she heard the voices, she would put on a pot of water to boil. She would then race off to the barn lot and start wringing necks. Some folks cut the chicken heads off with a hatchet but Grandma generally just twisted them off. In no time at all there would be a feast to behold on her table.

I think about all of these things as I observe the reappearance of chickens in rural West Virginia. Somehow I just don't picture modern folks going out to slaughter chickens for Sunday dinner. It's just too easy to go to the freezer and pull out a Pilgrim's Pride. Also, I don't think there are many stores that will barter for eggs. Go-Mart would much rather sell those government certified eggs that come in neat little boxes and do not taste like eggs.

The chickens provided one other need that has to be mentioned. Recreation for kids.