Robin Gorton relishes each day and spends a lot of time tending to her beloved pets — ducks, chickens, birds, a goose and four dogs.

And four guinea hens move about the property as a squad.

“They have to think in unison — they’re very protective,” she said.

Robin buys bright print aprons for her pet chickens, who scamper about the yard during the day.

“They hang out and get on the porch, looking in the door,” she said.

At night, they stay nestled in a chicken coop to keep the raccoons at bay.

Their necks will never be chopped off — they will die of old age, probably under the petting hand of Robin.

If one gets a cold, as is the case at present, it is brought inside the home and cared for. She said upper respiratory infections often cause death in chickens.

Snowball is bathed and coddled. Robin sat petting and baby talking Snowball, one of her Cochin chickens with a cold.

Snowball is fat and sassy, but while lolling in Robin’s lap, she seemed to coo like a dove. And why wouldn’t she? The fat, fluffy chicken was getting plenty of personal attention.

Robin has a Brahma rooster who would be a model if roosters were used as models. He doesn’t really strut around, but seems to glide along as if he knows he’s a thing of sheer beauty. He does his crowing before daylight.

 She, her husband and her feathered friends live at the bottom of a rolling hill in the Gooseneck Bend area of Muskogee.

David smiles and enjoys his wife being an animal lover and a protector and caretaker of sick or injured animals.

They both went to college after he retired from the U.S. Navy. They moved to Muskogee in 1999 after touring the country in an RV for two years, with intermittent extended visits to places they especially liked.

David got an elementary education degree from Bacone College after they moved here.

“But the downturn in the economy makes it doubtful I’ll be teaching anytime soon,” he said.

Robin got a degree in graphic design from Northeastern State University and studied art illustration. She has a business painting pets, mostly dogs or birds.

Birds get a lot of attention

Three large bird cages dominate the living area of the Robin and David Gorton’s home.

R. Jay, a blue jay, is a miracle Robin can’t believe survived. He’s in residency via a friend with Feathered Affair Rescue Birds.

He’d been injured while living in an outside aviary. She’s had him three years, and he doesn’t like to be handled.

G.G. (God’s Gift) is a starling, a relative of a mynah bird. And, like a mynah, G.G. talks. His repertoire includes about 15 sayings, along with sneezing back at you, if you sneeze.

When he gets his nails trimmed, he always asks, “Watch doin’?”

He asks what’s up and often says, “I’m sweet.”

His cage companion is Zippy, a female starling.

“She was stranded sitting on a trash can,” Robin said.

“Fritz, my cockatiel, is a kidnap victim from California. My daughter’s mother-in-law gave him to us. He traveled from California in a dog carrier.”

And four finches are the smallest of the pet birds.

Claire, a sparrow, was found in the fence with her feet wrapped in the fence.

“She was paralyzed — I spent three months nursing her. She lives in my studio — she’s my buddy,” Robin said.



Chickens in full dress

The colorful, patterned aprons, or jackets as some call them, are homemade by a teacher who lives in Haskell.

Robin buys them for beauty and protection. Some of her chickens lost some of their feathers.

“Mr. Or (Barnabas, the rooster) is very romantic,” she said. “If you take those little aprons off, you’ll see some feathers have to grow back.”

The adult chickens are named: Tic, Tac, Donna, Pippen, Spice, Lilly, Grace and Emmy. The teenagers are named, Dot, Rascal, Barbara, Olive, Opal and Jewel.

Her Silkies are Lucy (because she has red hair and an attitude — like Lucille Ball) and a small maimed rooster, Mopsy.

“They all have different personalities,” Robin said. “And they really have become our obsession.”

Late in the afternoon, they go into their pen. But they must be put in the coop at night to be safe.



A wonderful way of life

Robin remembers what her father, Jim Rusk, advised her: “Do something that when you die, you’re proud of what you did.”

In addition to her feathered friends, the family has four, drop-off dogs: Sassy, a Chihuahua; Bozo, a beagle who is blind and hard of hearing; Buddy, a Labrador/healer and Tinker Bell, a German shepherd/greyhound.

After a raccoon maimed one of her chickens, she set a trap to kill him. She caught him — but she didn’t kill him. She hasn’t seen a raccoon since she let him go.

“Our theory is he told his buddies — ‘You don’t want to go down there.’”

One of her favorite quotes: “If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.” St. Francis.

Meanwhile, her art work is picking up and bringing her much joy.

She’s getting more exposure and painting more pets, using acrylics.

She’s got a fun life.

View Robin Gorton’s art work at her Web site Pet Portraits: http://www.robingortonfineart.com, or e-mail her at byrdluv@gmail.com.

Meet Robin Gorton

AGE: 52.

HOMETOWN: San Diego.

CAREER: Art and raising pet chickens, ducks, guineas and birds.

EDUCATION: Graduate of Northeastern State University graphic design.

FAMILY: Husband, David; daughter, Ester; seven grandchildren and twin girls expected to be born soon.

CHURCH: Saint Joseph Catholic Church.

HOBBIES: Art, photography and raising chickens, ducks and rescuing birds and raising them.