Rosa Calabrese's life is fowl

While others were complaining about the amount of homework in math class, Rosa Calabrese actually said "My chicken ate my homework" in class and she meant it. 

Calabrese is the proud owner of Spot and Ophilia, 2 chickens as seen below. Unfortunately, Spot had eaten her math homework and she was out of luck in trying to get it done before class.  Seeing these unusual animals and learning why someone would consider such an unusual pet seemed the ideal assignment.

Spot & Ophilia

Spot and Ophilia are actually trained to wear a diaper and will even let Calabrese know when they need to be changed.  Calabrese, laughingly, said she almost got her eye pecked when she tried to ignore Ophilia one morning when  she wanted her diaper changed.

When talking with Calabrese, she stated that chickens can be trained in a number of ways and to do a number of tricks and they don’t forget.  Calabrese got two of her outdoor chickens and had to keep them in the house for a few days until an enclosure could be made and they still want to sit on her lap.

Since she was a little girl, Calabrese has loved animals and fell in love with chickens.  This love of chickens has developed into a profession and she was going for a poultry degree but Linn Benton dropped this course and she will have to go to Arkansas in fall 2012 to complete her degree.

Calabrese plans to become a hatchery, meat and egg production inspector, whose job is to inspect any poultry production places and make sure they are following standards, such as how the animals are kept and treated.

Trying to improve the living conditions of the animals, since some places say their chickens are free range and they are not, since free range just means that the birds "Have Access" to the outdooors, but doesn't mean they go outside, per Calabrese.  Sometimes the farmers say the chickens go outside once a month, but can't even stand up as they are abnormally  large, which is unhealthy, and this cannot be true.

Another goal that Calabrese has is to raise her own poultry, hopefully, creating the largest breed of chicken, while creating her own exhibition (Show) poultry as well.

Rosa Calabrese. with Aurora & Piper

Having won state championship with her rooster, Diablo, who unfortunately was killed by two roosters she was babysitting for a friend, Calabrese has shown that she is very capable in this field and has many awards with Spot, her 2 year old.

Besides the two chickens and two snakes she has living with her in the house, there are two dogs and six other chickens (Araucana and Polish).  Per Calabrese, she lives with her dad, who isa state computer engineer, and her older sister, Angela, who is going to college for a biology degree and volunteers at the Chintimini Wildlife Center in Corvallis, where she is the head turkey vulture handler.

Although diagnosised with ADHD as a little girl, Rosa Calabrese has shown that each person has their own special talent and hers is with animals.  ADHD has never got in her way as she strove to find her way, even though she was picked on in school, which made making friends very hard. 

Losing her mother when she was 16, due to pnuemonia complications after chemo treatments for cancer. 

Calabrese has owned goats., alpacas, cows, cats, lizards, snakes, and parrots, but, also, rides horses almost every day with her best friend, Kat Conway.

Conway said Calabrese 

--> "has a genuine quality about her that is rare in people and sees the best in people and animals. She has a determination and an interest that I have only seen so strongly in my own horses. What Rosa and I have in common and has brought us together is not only our love for horses but our strong desire to protect their welfare and giving animals both the guidance and the opportunities to reach their full potential. Rosa’s dedication to her chickens and their care is something I admire about her and has given me the ability to trust her with my life’s work (my horses). Rosa never fails to put a smile on someone’s face or to help motivate others with her exceptionally cheerful attitude towards most projects.”

So, when someone tells you the chicken ate my homework, it just might be true.

UPDATE:
Again, Spot ate Rosa's math textbook (not homework).  Life has gone to the chickens.  But life has improved as Rosa has started making the diapers for her babies herself.

At a glance:
Rosa Calabrese, a student at Linn Benton, going for a Poultry degree.

Motto:

People have asked me "Why can’t you be normal?" and I ask in response "What is normal? I feel normal. The way I act is normal. I am normal just the way I am."

Animal lover, has two pet chickens, two snakes, 6 other laying chickens (of varying breeds) and one bad rooster.

Calabrese loves to ride and spends many hours at the stables with the horses.
When researching chickens as pets, it was astonishing to see that there are over 60 breeds in this country alone.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/MI-Chicken-Revolution/213406838671714#!/rosa.calabrese3  to reach Rosa and keep up with the latest escapades of her pets.

One site (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKrFmgsf58w&feature=relmfu) which discussed in detail chickens as pets or for eggs is

Blue Hill Farms, a magical place situated in the foothills of Ventura, California!

Another site is http://www.mypetchicken.com.
and
http://www.livingthecountrylife.com/animals/chickens-poultry/