Goodbye, Dear Sweet Fluffy White Things

We had some very sad goodbyes this summer. Happily none of these goodbyes were because of death, but they were still very sad. All of the goodbyes came from the necessity of finding new homes for beloved fluffy white animals who were no longer able to stay where they were.

It began in midsummer, when it became abundantly clear that not all of the chicks we were raising were females. It was very disappointing! We purchased four chicks, and one died. Who knows if little Charlie was a male or female, but either way, we were down one. So we purchased two more, and these two survived. We were enjoying our five chicks - Blue, Delta, Echo, Marigold and Pillow. They were so wonderfully fluffy and sweet. But soon we started hearing suspicious cock-a-doodle-doo-ing from the nether reaches of the yard. What a bummer. We watched carefully and were so sad to find that the culprit was Pillow - the sweetest chick! He was so gentle and always let Emma hold him and never got cross. It was so sad. 

Less of a bummer was making the same discovery about Marigold. In the early days, Marigold was one of our favorite chicks. The only yellow one - so little and cute! But Marigold grew in both stature and grouchiness. Put plainly, Marigold was a total butt. He was always in skirmishes with the other chickens, picking fights, trying to be bossy and in charge. We weren't as sad when we finally figured out she was a he. There was nothing to do but shed some tears, snuggle Pillow while glaring at Marigold, take as many pictures as possible, then drive the roosters to IFA where they lived until local farmers came to pick them up, which apparently happens within a day at the most. I must have been a hilarious character to these IFA employees who apparently don't feel the attachment I do to chickens. I brought ours in and was expecting some exclamations of awe at how beautiful our fluffy white rooster was, but they did not care in the slightest. I believe I even went so far as to attempt to solicit a compliment from one of them as I said, "Isn't he something?" Yeah they did not think he was something. Well phooey on them. Our rooster was so fluffy and beautiful! But roosters seriously crow a lot every single morning at a very early time. It had to happen.

Look at that tail!!

The gorgeous Pillow

The cantankerous Marigold

Well. We thought the worst was over. But in August a third of our five chickens began to crow every morning. We could not believe it. Isn't that just crappy? Three out of FIVE???!!! Terrible odds. Next year if we get more chicks I think we'll mail order them because I hear you get better skill with gender testing that way. Anyway, heartbreak! Again! It was Echo. Another lovely white rooster. My girls were traumatized. Dropping off beloved pets in the parking lot of a farm store is heart wrenching. And there's just no choice! You just can not have roosters in the city.

Well sad to say, that was not all.

As I posted earlier, I had been walking this dog six days a week for a neighbor. I know it sounds like I was doing a really nice thing but trust me when I tell you it was entirely self-serving. I absolutely adored this dog. Was walking her a total breeze? No way. I used muscles I never knew I had in order to stop her from dragging me down the sidewalk in pursuit of every cat, dog, mouse, bird, squirrel and random plastic bag in a three mile radius. But I sure had fun doing it. She was an absolute sweet heart, unless you happened to be a furry or feathered creature smaller than she is. (Which is everything. She was massive.) I had a lot of therapeutic walking time with her and I got a lot of puppy love from her as well as a lot of hair, shedding in vast amounts that would put our husky Alex to shame.

Elsa was a very high-needs dog. And her family, our sweet neighbors, have their plates full with little kids and an old house and a college-age student (aka the other dog-walker) moving out of the house. They decided to find a new home for sweet Elsa. Of course they asked us first but due to our chicken-ownership and highly dog-allergic son, it just could not happen. Boo. Happily Elsa found a home with an adventurous young man in Cache Valley with tons of space for Elsa to run like the wild woman she is. I was so sad but glad for her too. We had a goodbye walk and Troy took a few pictures of us that did not turn out great but hey I'm glad to have them.

As my sister wisely said, Chicken-Love is not to be taken lightly. Neither is puppy love, that's for sure. It was a blessing to have this fluffies in our lives for a bit and pretty sad to say goodbye. Luckily they're all living happily on great big farms. For reals.