So… How Did I End Up Here?

If you told the younger version of me that one day I’d be raising rare chickens, talking genetics with breeders, and spending my evenings photographing birds like they’re runway models, I probably would’ve rolled my eyes and laughed.

For most of my life, I was a city person who loved to travel.

My world used to revolve around kitchens. I spent about fifteen years as a chef. Long nights, sharp knives, loud kitchens, adrenaline, and the kind of work where you blink and ten hours disappear. I loved it. Cooking is still one of my favorite things in the world.

But life has a funny way of shifting directions.

Eventually, I stepped away from that life and moved into healthcare. These days my work revolves around helping people instead of plating food. It’s a different kind of pressure, a different kind of responsibility, but the heart of it is the same. You’re still taking care of something living, just a different kind of creature.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, chickens happened.

Backyard Chickens… Then Chicken People

Like a lot of folks, it started simple.

I liked chickens. Always did. They’re funny, curious little dinosaurs that somehow survived extinction by becoming farm animals.

At first, I was doing what everyone does. Backyard chicken Facebook groups. Reading posts. Learning the basics. Trying to figure out what was real advice and what was, well, internet nonsense.

If you’ve ever been in those groups, you know exactly what I mean.

Lots of opinions.
Lots of drama.
Lots of “my chicken sneezed once, what do I do?”

It was chaos.

Then my neighbors introduced me to something that changed everything.

They told me about the documentary Chicken People.

If you’ve never seen it, it dives into the world of exhibition poultry. The American Poultry Association shows. The breeders. The judges. The people who dedicate their lives to perfecting a bird the way someone else might perfect a racehorse or a show dog.

That movie cracked open a whole different world.

The First Show

Then last November, I went to my first real poultry show.

HOTOPA in Arkansas.

And that was it.

Hooked.

The show hall was full of birds that looked like living works of art. Perfect feather patterns. Tiny bantams with attitude bigger than a truck. Giant birds that looked like velociraptors. Breeders talking about genetics like winemakers talk about grapes.

It was wild.

But something else stood out to me....

A lot of the exhibition world starts with kids. And honestly, that’s amazing. Programs like 4-H and youth poultry clubs are the backbone of the hobby. They teach responsibility, care, patience, and respect for animals.

But walking around that show, I realized something.

There are also a lot of adults discovering this world later in life.

People like me.

Late bloomers.

Chickens and the ADHD Brain

Here’s something people don’t talk about enough.

For a lot of folks, chickens are more than just livestock.

They’re therapy.

I say that half joking, but also completely serious.

If you have an AuADHD brain like mine, quieting your thoughts isn’t easy. Your brain runs like a browser with fifty tabs open and music playing somewhere, but you can’t find the tab.

Chickens slow things down.

You step outside.
You watch them scratch around.
You listen to the little clucks and weird noises they make.
You check the nests.
You watch personalities unfold.

It pulls you into the moment.

It’s grounding in a way that’s hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it.

Some people meditate.
Some people fish.
Some people garden.

I hang out with chickens.

Photography, Birds, and Tiny Dinosaurs

Another thing that came out of this journey is photography.

Once you start raising birds, you realize they’re ridiculously photogenic. The colors, the feather patterns, the personalities. Every bird is a character.

Some of them look regal.
Some look like grumpy old men.
Some look like they just woke up late for work.

Trying to capture that personality through a camera has become one of my favorite hobbies.

If you scroll through ZenPen’s pages, you’ll probably see a lot of bird photos. That’s not just marketing. That’s me genuinely enjoying the weird beauty of these animals.

Why ZenPen Exists

ZenPen Poultry isn’t just about selling birds.

It’s about sharing the journey.

My focus is Ayam Cemani, a breed known for its deep black pigmentation caused by fibromelanosis, a rare genetic trait that saturates the bird’s body with melanin. But beyond rare breeds and genetics, what I care about most is the people who are discovering poultry the way I did.

Maybe you grew up in the city.
Maybe you’re just getting your first birds.
Maybe you’re curious about exhibition shows.
Maybe you just want to learn.

You’re welcome here.

No gatekeeping.

No nonsense.

Just chickens.

The Late Bloomer Club

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Man… I’m kind of getting into chickens later in life,” good.

You’re in good company.

Some people start this hobby when they’re ten years old. Others stumble into it at 37.

Either way, once the bug bites, you’re done for.

Welcome to the flock.