Man, chicken best buddies
Bismarck, N.D. - Terry Morris' pet and traveling companion weighs less than a pound and loves Mexican food.
Morris and his pint-sized pet chicken named Henrietta have been chums for about a dozen years, and their friendship has hatched a new children's book.
"She's my buddy," Morris said, as Henrietta walked across his shoulders. "It's pretty strange, I know. But she's a good pet."
Henrietta, an Old English Bantam hen, walked into Morris' life 12 years ago. Then 3 months old, the chicken strolled through the front door of a wheel alignment business Morris owned in Olympia, Wash.
He searched for the bird's owner but no one claimed her, so he let Henrietta stay in his shop.
"I didn't think she'd last a week in there, with cars going in and out all the time," Morris said.
Henrietta made the garage her home. She greeted customers with a friendly squawk, punched numbers on the calculator when Morris was in the business office and sat on his head when he talked on the phone.
She ate lunch with him at the shop and soon found that she enjoyed his takeout meals better than her scratch. Henrietta's favorite is Mexican food. Morris said taco sauce makes her comb light up bright red.
Morris has taken Henrietta on trips with him, logging more than 50,000 miles in his truck, where she sits in a custom coop on the front seat.
Last year, he took Henrietta to Los Angeles to visit his granddaughter. The chicken made a surprise appearance at show-and-tell, where 25 kids got to pet her.
"Most of the kids there didn't even know what a chicken was," Morris said. "Nobody brings a chicken to a classroom in L.A. The teacher was a little overwhelmed."
Morris, 60, is the former owner of wheel alignment shop in Bismarck, where he grew up. He always wanted to move out West, so he did in 1991. He had a shop there for 15 years, before moving back to North Dakota this spring.
He lives on a small farm north of Bismarck. Henrietta lives there, too, in a horse trailer. Sometimes, when Morris opens the door to the trailer in the morning, there's an egg in there. Sometimes there's one in his truck.
In Washington, one of Morris' customers took a liking to Henrietta.
Iris-Arla Moore, a librarian in Olympia, decided to write a children's book about the small pet chicken. "Henrietta the Guard Chicken" was published by Trafford Publishing in March. The book chronicles Henrietta's time with Morris, who in the book is known as Dan.
"Now, a lot of people know me as the 'Chicken Man,'" he said. |
Bismarck, N.D. - Terry Morris' pet and traveling companion weighs less than a pound and loves Mexican food.
Morris and his pint-sized pet chicken named Henrietta have been chums for about a dozen years, and their friendship has hatched a new children's book.
"She's my buddy," Morris said, as Henrietta walked across his shoulders. "It's pretty strange, I know. But she's a good pet."
Henrietta, an Old English Bantam hen, walked into Morris' life 12 years ago. Then 3 months old, the chicken strolled through the front door of a wheel alignment business Morris owned in Olympia, Wash.
He searched for the bird's owner but no one claimed her, so he let Henrietta stay in his shop.
"I didn't think she'd last a week in there, with cars going in and out all the time," Morris said.
Henrietta made the garage her home. She greeted customers with a friendly squawk, punched numbers on the calculator when Morris was in the business office and sat on his head when he talked on the phone.
She ate lunch with him at the shop and soon found that she enjoyed his takeout meals better than her scratch. Henrietta's favorite is Mexican food. Morris said taco sauce makes her comb light up bright red.
Morris has taken Henrietta on trips with him, logging more than 50,000 miles in his truck, where she sits in a custom coop on the front seat.
Last year, he took Henrietta to Los Angeles to visit his granddaughter. The chicken made a surprise appearance at show-and-tell, where 25 kids got to pet her.
"Most of the kids there didn't even know what a chicken was," Morris said. "Nobody brings a chicken to a classroom in L.A. The teacher was a little overwhelmed."
Morris, 60, is the former owner of wheel alignment shop in Bismarck, where he grew up. He always wanted to move out West, so he did in 1991. He had a shop there for 15 years, before moving back to North Dakota this spring.
He lives on a small farm north of Bismarck. Henrietta lives there, too, in a horse trailer. Sometimes, when Morris opens the door to the trailer in the morning, there's an egg in there. Sometimes there's one in his truck.
In Washington, one of Morris' customers took a liking to Henrietta.
Iris-Arla Moore, a librarian in Olympia, decided to write a children's book about the small pet chicken. "Henrietta the Guard Chicken" was published by Trafford Publishing in March. The book chronicles Henrietta's time with Morris, who in the book is known as Dan.
"Now, a lot of people know me as the 'Chicken Man,'" he said. |
