Lucy

As some of you know, this weekend we lost our pet chicken, Lucy.

We had just come back from a morning errand and breakfast run, and I walked out to the coop to bring Lucy a treat (some leftover fruit and veggies from our breakfast). Since she wasn't out in her run, I called out to her as I approached the coop, to get her to come outside.

"Brrrrr....chick chick chick chick!" "Brrrr....c'mon girl! C'mon down, Lucy, I've got some nice treats for you!"

She didn't come down, and a quick inspection of the coop revealed that she wasn't there. She was simply gone.

So there I was, just holding this bowl and realizing that she was gone, and likely never coming back. I thought about when the last time was that I saw her, and realized that maybe she had flown away (yeah, I could say 'flown the coop') and was hiding in the bushes somewhere. I looked around a bit more as I walked back to the house.

What would I say to my daughter?

What would I say to everyone? I had no thoughts other than I needed to tell my family. I broke it to them as gently as I could and then tried to push on with my day.

We had made plans the night before to finally go to the store and get Lucy some company. The local Tractor Supply store had just gotten some new chicks, and we were thinking about going the next day to pick up a few babies to raise. Now we had to decide - should we get some chicks now, or wait until we've had a chance to mourn?

After some thought, we decided to go get some chicks the following day. The coop would remain empty for a little while (they would be too small to go outside for a few weeks) and it would help us, and the kids, move past this quickly.

That didn't stop me from feeling pretty sad. She was a joy to have around, and I loved looking into her bright eyes and seeing peace. I will miss Lucy, but now we've got Rosie, Jenna and Sunshine to think about and take care of.

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After some searching around the property, we did find a few torn feathers. Based on some books I've read, that usually means an early morning coyote or fox had gotten her, and dragged her away to be eaten. They are most active in the morning. Dogs (like the one that got her sister, Kooky) apparently are more likely to just kill a chicken and leave it; they hunt for sport.

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Part of having a pet chicken is the understanding that many, many creatures (including some humans) find chickens to be an easy, tasty meal. I accept this fact and know that although they *could* live as long as 10 years on their own, the fact that she only lived 2 is not so unusual. That doesn't stop me from being pretty broken up about it, and now every time I look at the coop standing their empty I get sad again.

Rest in peace Lucy.

Janet

Pets in Winter - questions and answers

Sometimes, I get the question 'what happens to your chicken in wintertime'.

Chickens, like many birds that do not migrate, have small feathers that grow in close to the skin, keeping them warm through the winter. Like a blanket they have a layer of warm and cushy air pockets built into each feather. As long as they have a place to roost that's out of the wind, they are warm enough even on the really cold nights when it drops below freezing. Which is really good, since it's supposed to get cold around here this week! Brrrr.

We also chose a very hardy breed to keep, Rhode Island Reds, and they are very cold tolerant. Some other breeds have difficulties in the cold weather with their combs or wattles (the red parts around their faces) getting frostbite. The Reds only have one, fairly short comb, and they can put their heads under their wings if they need to get warm.

We were concerned that the water would freeze, so we bought a heat lamp and a sensor. The lamp gives heat inside the coop, keeping the water from freezing. The sensor makes sure that the lamp only goes on when it drops below 35 degrees F, and then shuts off in warmer temps. We don't want to make it too hot, either!

Here are a few photos of Lucy by the coop in wintertime.

It's hard to get her to come outside when there is snow on the ground (it hurts her toes, I think) but a treat can sometimes encourage her down. Today's treats were two rold gold pretzels. She managed to pick one up in her beak, which I've never seen before (usually she pecks it apart on the ground).

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The coop has survived some pretty bad stormy weather - like blizzards and superstorms. I'm sure it wouldn't survive an actual tornado, but it's a pretty sturdy structure. My husband built the A-frame in our basement from an online photo of a similar coop.

Another question I get is 'once she stops laying, will you eat her?' and the answer is definitely NO. I wouldn't eat her in any case (I chose to stop eating meat many years ago) but to our family, she's a pet, not food. Once she stops laying we'll just keep taking care of her as long as she's alive.

How do you keep your pets warm in winter? Do you let them go outside?

Pets and Animals

We have a pet chicken, her name is Lucy. I've wanted to own chickens for a long time, and about a year ago we took the plunge. She was just a teeny reddish brown chick at first, such a precious little bit of fluff. She also peeped a lot. Here's a photo of Lucy when we first got her, eating out of her food dish.

Here's a link to a video of what reds look like as chicks, so you can see the cuteness and hear the peeps for yourself.

She's got a nice coop and a place to run around in our backyard, here's a picture of her with our other chicken, Kooky.

What I love about having chickens is watching them around the yard. I look out the window and I can see them in their coop or, on some nice days, scratching around the house. They like to scratch and peck at the ground, flap their wings (they can fly short distances, if they need to) and walk. When the leaves are on the ground they push them aside with their beaks and claws to get to the bugs underneath. Watching them do this is funny, you see FLOOF FLOOF the leaves getting tossed in the air and know they are doing their work. Did you know, they eat fly eggs and ticks? When they peck at the ground, their tails move as a balance to the rest of their bodies, which gives their bodies kind of an up-down-up kind of motion.

I love just owning chickens, taking care of them, listening to them coo and cluck, and seeing how happy they are when I give them a treat. It's such a nice, calming, happy feeling.

They are a beautiful breed; we have Rhode Island Reds, which means they have brown feathers with red highlights and white pins. Here's a breed photo so you can see what I mean.

Sad story; a few weeks ago we lost our bigger chicken, Kooky, to a neighborhood dog. The dog was just being a dog, and we don't know which neighbor the dog belongs to. She died pretty quickly but it was still a horrible thing to watch and so sad. I wish I could have stopped the dog, but I know this kind of thing is inevitable. She had a good, happy chicken life, with a nice warm house and plenty of food and drink, and that's comforting.

We've got room in the coop, so we're likely going to get a few more chickens come the springtime. Chickens are social animals, and we know that Lucy is pretty lonely now by herself. Hopefully she makes it through the winter all-right, and then she'll have some more company.

Please tell me about animals that you've connected with.

About Me

I've been thinking about this video, that I saw the other day, and it made me think about how connected I am to people. How connected I *think* I am, and how connected I could actually be.

I realized that regardless of whatever positives and negatives I see in facebook one thing is clear - through reading my friends posts (and their friends posts) I'm finding out more about the people I thought I knew. Their fears, their lives, their desires. Plus lots of cat pictures. :)

This made me want to find out more about the people I know; more than just what they are sharing in a post or tweet. I know why we are friends or family, what I don't know is what about them is really, really different. I'd like you to tell me what makes you different from me.

So

Here's me!

I'm forty years old.  I live in New Jersey. I have two kids, ages 5 and 1.

I have a happy marriage to my husband of 11 years. I have a chicken for a pet.

What makes you different? For this first post, tell me something about your family that is different from my family.

Thanks for joining me on my empathy journey!