Evan was born in 1991 and
is the youngest member of our poultry family. His favorite subject in
school is math and he usually makes straight As. Evan's favorite
chickens are the black barreds that we breed. This line of black barred
fowl lays dark brown eggs and has Delaware, Rhode Island Red and Cochin
ancestry. We call this line "Dakota Black Barreds". They have single
combs and clean legs.
Alex
was born in 1990 and loves saxophone music, poultry, baseball, hates
girls (that will change very soon). Alex's favorite chickens are the
ones from the blue egg project. He loves the grey chicks and is excited
to see what they look like when they grow up. The blue egg chickens
have Leghorn, Araucana and Ameraucana ancestry. In this picture Alex is
holding "George Washington", a rumpless, black barred cockered. George
Washington is genetically half Leghorn and half Araucana.
My
sister has fotophobia and this is the only picture of her that I have
permission to post. This picture was taken in '62 or '63. Sissy has
been the immutable driving force behind our poultry here and deserves
all the credit. She started the breeding projects and I believe her
favorite is the blue egg project in which she started with Leghorn
females and Araucana and Ameraucana males, bred them and have been
selecting for eggshell color. This project is ongoing. Sissy has a
doctorate degree in mathematics and worked as a math teacher and
industrial statistician until moving to South Dakota to be with us.
The old coot asleep in the easy chair with the baby chick is me. I am
Harrell Lee Sellers. When I'm not working with chickens or playing music or
restoring an old tractor, I am a chemistry
professor at South Dakota State University. The baby chick in the photograph
is a Delaware pullet that the kids named "Honey Chick". Honey Chick used to like
to nap with me in the living room in the evening. She's been a working girl in
our laying flock for more than two years. When she's finished laying for us,
she'll just be a pet.
This picture was taken on Sunday, July 28, 2002. I'm playing the saxophone solo "Yakety Sax".