RIP Whitey, a very special chicken friend

We came home yesterday to a truly heartwrenching sight, our very special chicken, Whitey, dead and being torn asunder by our dog. We'll never know what happen, whether she died naturally and was then eaten, or if Munch killed her. It saddens me, beyond just her loss, because I loved that our dogs and chickens hung out in the yard together, and it made it so easy to let the chickens range about. We can't take that chance anymore, they'll have to have their free time when the dogs are inside.

Whitey came to us as an adult hen, already laying her splendid pale green eggs. She was the sweetest of souls and would always hunker down and let you scoop her up as soon as you approached. She was the amazing hen that we took to the Farmer's Market last spring where she placidly sat and accepted pettings and popcorn offerings and also sat to have her portrait sketched in Fionna's lap. I will never ever forget the sight of the drowsy hen, nestled into Fionna's arms, even drooling a bit in her slumber.

The kids are all sad but Fionna is particularly devastated. She said it eloquently when she wailed that "Whitey was my good, good friend."

This has prompted us to order some new chicks, via mail. We want to up our egg production just a little, and Fionna is just a bit consoled that she can raise a chick to be another special friend. If you're local to me and interested in ordering chicks, we are ordering from http://mypetchicken.com/. If you can let me know quickly, in a day or two, we could share an order (we've already placed our's but they've let us know that it will be several days before they can give us a timeline on the types of chicks we chose). That is another post and, in deference to Whitey, we'll save it for another day.

Thank you, Whitey, for being part of our family, for your tasty, beautiful eggs and for being Fionna's good, good friend. :(