MONTEREY — It was a love of baking, a dedication to feeding friends and family, and frugality that got Lois January into hen farming.

Or so she says.

“She’s telling you a big one there,” her husband Tommy said as he interrupted January’s story. “Cause she don’t bake that much!”

Tommy and Lois, Monterey residents, really got into the bird business because they wanted to, and for a dollar here and there.

Tommy raised birds — including peacocks, pheasants, quail and dove — as a child.

When he heard that a family in Tallulah was looking to get out of the business, the Januarys jumped at the opportunity to start their own.

For the past month, the Januarys have been building their flock, to over 30 birds ranging from their rare purple black-shouldered peacocks, to peach doves.

“Tommy came home one day with pheasants and peacocks,” Lois said. “And they were babies then so I thought they were turkeys.”

“And then to prove to me they were peacocks, he took me to the farm where he had gotten them and then I saw the green Emerald Spalding Peacock and I thought, cha-ching!”

A 1-year-old peacock can sell for approximately $35, Tommy said. Their eggs are also sold, often to the highest bidder.

Lois plans to get enough peacock eggs to fill the incubator they recently purchased, then start selling the eggs on Ebay.

But while Lois is the entrepreneur, Tommy just likes being in the coop.

“We look forward to getting home to a cup of coffee and to relaxing and watching the birds,” Tommy said.