Special to the Transcript
If you’ve had a conversation with Charlotte Petrie-Sullivan, or her mom, Layne, it is likely that their pets have come up. A dozen of those pets are feathered, live outside, and lay eggs for breakfast everyday.
The interest in chickens has been one for Layne Petrie since she was in middle school, and started much younger for seven-year old Charlotte. Half of their chickens have been raised on Point Shirley since they were day-old chicks, and the other half of them were rescued, each with different stories of origin.
Bubblegum the Silkie was rescued from unsafe and unsanitary living conditions as a young adult (pullet). She was bullied by the rest of her flock at the time of rescue, who now live with Charlotte’s grandmother, but was welcomed with open wings by the flock she joined in Winthrop.
Chicken raising has brought enjoyment to Charlotte and her mom for the past year and a half. The chickens enjoy helping till the soil in the yard and garden while looking for bugs, and each bird has a distinct personality. Charlotte enjoys collecting the ladies’ eggs, and her mom enjoys sharing them with friends and neighbors. Since the Point Shirley flock is blood tested annually by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), they are approved by the state to share and sell eggs, and are eligible for entry at Poultry Shows such as the one at the Topsfield Fair.
Charlotte and her mom entered Bubblegum into the Fair’s 2022 Poultry Show, which was unfortunately canceled per the MDAR recommendation, given the “highly pathogenic avian influenza” (bird flu) rates. They were elated to have another opportunity to enter her into the Fair this year, and are so proud of her blue ribbon.