Its a heavy-hearted, bittersweet post this week.  We had to say goodbye to our dear sweet Nugget-Chicken.  We also have the arrival of three new young girlfriends for Penny.  Those who know us and our chickens know Nugget has always been a bit of special needs Chicken.  You also will know that Nugget was indeed a very special and fantastic chicken. Nugget had cancer, unfortunately common in backyard chickens who live much longer lives as pets once past their productive egg laying days.  And although pulling through a few hard times and bouncing back with a spunk and spirit that rivaled most pet dogs, her time was over.  We had been hoping and praying she would stay healthy long enough to see Oregon and all its acres of scratching and pecking glory.  She did.  And she loved it here!   She was laid to rest under her most favorite tree she had loved since we moved to Oregon.   Here are a few of my favorite pictures of a great chicken who would come running for treats when you called her, hang out for morning coffee, and just be silly in general.

Always jumping on me, interrupting backyard yoga…

We love you Nugget!

 

 

The Arrival of the New Girls!

There has been a bit of a frenzy to find Penny new playmates as soon as possible. We had known for some time we should get more chicken friends so that neither Penny or Nugget would ever be left alone.  We still had not done this since moving (may have been an element of denial on my part). Chickens love to be in groups, they love friends.  They love to walk around together looking for bugs (shopping), finding the perfect tree to sit under (having coffee), and often go to the restroom in pairs.   Women!  After a bit of a search we found a local farmer who had young chickens who were Rhode Island Reds just like penny and nugget.  We drove to Corvallis to Winn Farms late in the evening, in the dark, rain and wind and picked up three new girls.

We are integrating them slowly with Penny to avoid any pecking order issues but all four have been scratching around talking to each other.  Penny hung out on her perch close to their acclimation cage  the first day and talked to them.  Probably setting the ground rules for when they are released from chicken jail.  Click here for a cute video of everyone.  If you turn the volume up you can hear the cute little chicken chirps.  Florence is a bit shy…she stayed in the kennel most the day basking in the sun.