Farm Animals in Home Decor

     Eleven years ago, I was strolling through a local store and spied a beautiful white porcelain rooster.  Before that moment, I had never considered using chickens in my kitchen décor.  It was such a regal and classic statue, it stole my heart and thus began my long obsession with roosters.  Over the years, I have collected a variety of rooster décor, everything from statues to wine glass charms.  It amazes me how limitless the options are for decorating a home with roosters.
     At the time of my first chicken décor purchase, my husband and I were living in a small house within the city limits.  The thought of owning farm animals never crossed my mind.  Neither of us had grown up with animals aside from dogs and cats, so this onset of poultry fascination was quite bizarre.  Although, my previous décor fetish had been with the late 1980’s kitchen icon: the goose.  Yes, I had the cute little geese with blue bows around their necks holding pink flowers. Since the marketing industry provides us with a guide to what’s hot and what’s not, I’ve realized I’m not the only one fascinated with farm animals as part of my home décor.
     Before World War II, our lives in America were immensely different than today.  We depended on local farmers for our fresh food if we did live in cities. Although, the norm was farm life where everyone had a few chickens and maybe a milk cow. Due to limited travel options for foods, we only knew fresh eggs, fresh milk and produce.  My mother tells the story of growing up in an urban town in Wisconsin in the 1940’s.  Every Saturday, she, her mother and grandmother would go a few blocks to buy live chickens which her grandmother would then butcher and use throughout the week for meals.  There was no such thing as frozen chicken breasts in a bag!  Even though my mother and her family didn’t live on a farm, they still were not that far removed from farm life.
     After World War II, our society was seduced into the world of processed foods.  If you didn’t buy packaged and highly processed foods you weren’t modern and contemporary.  Soon, these “convenient” foods dominated our dinner tables and the fresh farm foods suddenly were old-fashioned, inconvenient and out of date.  In addition, fake foods such as margarine began to be touted as healthier than all-natural, fresh butter.  Thus, we saw farm life shift from the norm to the abnormal.
     Gradually, with no more roosters or cows in our back yard we see our society’s need to connect with our pastoral past pop up in home decor.  In the 1960’s, roosters made their entrance into kitchens with bright, psychedelic colors and they continued into the 70’s only in updated, modern colors such as olive greens, golds, and burnt oranges.  We also saw the introduction of dairy cows, pigs and geese in the 70’s and 80’s as another means of decorating our homes.   The roosters have made a huge come back in the late 1990’s through current times.   Now we are also seeing horses dominate the home décor industry, finding horse shaped salt and pepper shakers to horseshoe towel racks.
     This need to bring farm animals into our homes is a cry for a reconnection with our agricultural history.  We have grown so far away from farm life we are now seeking it in how we surround ourselves in our rooms.  Having these animal icons displayed on our kitchen counters, on our dinner plates and in our bathrooms makes us feel more connected to farm life.   Some people feel this desire more so than others.  But there is still a deep hunger in each of us for a simple way of life surrounded with the beauty of nature, the freedom of food security, the value of hard physical work and the compassion which comes from caring for animals.  These are experiences or feelings which we as humans harbor deeply in our psyche.  Many studies show humans were designed to work physically, to hunt and gather our food and not be stuck behind a desk 8 hours a day.  There is some hardwiring in us which calls us back to lifestyles like farming but our society has evolved to a point that, for many people, these lifestyles will only remain as images on plates or as statues on their counters.  
    About 9 years into my rooster fetish, I was overcome with the deep desire to own a real, live rooster.  I suppose I had finally recognized my passion for roosters had nothing to do with napkin rings or window valances but rather to heed the call of reconnection with generations past.  We had moved outside the city limits and now had some land so it was a feasible idea to have chickens.  My family thought I had spent too much time polishing my collection of roosters and had lost my mind when I started mentioning the idea of a flock of chickens.  I researched every aspect of raising chickens, varieties of chickens, options for housing chickens and every other little detail about chickens until finally Mother’s Day 2008 I received my first batch of baby chicks.   These chickens stole my heart just like that white porcelain rooster did many years ago.  We now have 80 chickens and sell our eggs around town.  They have become a significant part of our lives and they have offered us a lifestyle which connects us to the earth, to nature and to a freedom we never had before.  I have such a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction when I care for the flock.  It feels like I have completed the circle of life and all because I fell in love, on a whim, with a clearance-priced white porcelain rooster eleven years ago.  I still continue to collect rooster items for my home which my husband graciously tolerates but knowing what came about from the first rooster, he may get a little nervous when porcelain cows start appearing!