While I greatly enjoyed my chicken adventure this week, I realized that keeping a lone bird in my backyard isn’t really fair to Rhoda.  Chickens are social animals, and although Jim and I have been called “bird-brained” many times, we were just not adequate company for our feathered friend.  Fortunately, I have several chicken pals who would have been willing to take this pretty lady into their hearts and homes, so I was able to place her in a perfect environment for her safety and happiness.

Coop De Ville!

My friend GT is a master builder.  He built this souped-up chicken coop years ago for his lucky flock and this will be lucky Rhoda’s new home.  (He built Casa de Burlingame too!)

Summer 2007

Fall 2010

GT and his friend Lee have kept chickens for years and they have a beautiful country place.

Workshop and guest house

One thing you must consider with chicken relocation is that when you take a lone chicken to a new farm there is always a possibility that the resident chickens will not be welcoming to a newcomer.  Often a group of chickens will torture (and sometimes kill) a single new chicken in their midst.  The great thing about bringing her to GT’s is that he currently has no adult chickens on his farm.  As I was driving in, I saw a mamma turkey and several babies crossing the long drive.  There are also a few young chickens running around who look like they may be 8-10 weeks old.

One of Rhoda’s young playmates

These “adolescent” chickens are no threat to our mature Miss Rhoda, so she can roam around these beautiful grounds struttin’ her stuff as the Alpha Queen of the Castle.  And inside the “castle” where I dropped her off was a really cool surprise!

Rhoda, meet your new roommates! Quack, Quack!

I put her inside the coop where she would stay for a few hours to acclimate herself to her new surroundings. She stared at the baby ducks for a bit and then joined in like she was Donald or Daffy.  They were a bit leery of this big red lady, but then everyone started acting like they were old friends.  Later in the day, Lee went out to feed her and Rhoda ate from her hand and let her new “mom” pet her.  As the young chickens grow up, they’ll look at Miss Rhoda as one of their own and all will be well.

I saw this sign on GT’s coop and had to laugh.  My dad has the same sign on the wall of his “honor system” egg business where folks drive up and take eggs from an outdoor fridge and leave their money in a cardboard shoebox.  (Daddy has about 60-70 Rhode Island Reds) I’m sure Barney’s intimidating presence is a good deterrent against larceny.

Nip it!

All in all I’m feelin’ pretty good about my animal juggling act.  During the last two weeks I’ve found a good home for my sweet, wild little bunny Dave, three foster kittens, two rescued goldfish and a runaway chicken.  It’s getting kinda quiet around here.  Jim, what do you think of pygmy goats?  I hear they like to live in pairs.

My three fluffy charges made weight and are back at the shelter for the adoption process.  They’ll get their surgeries and then go to the kitten room after they recover.  I’ll keep you posted on their adoption status.  My guess is that it won’t be long because of their impeccable upbringing and nuclear-powered cuteness.

I’ll miss this little pile o’ cuteness.

Be good for Miss Courtney and don’t forget all the manners Mr. Mulder taught you.

This is the hard part, but it’s also the rewarding part.  The better job I do, (with help from my assistant Mr. M) the better chance these guys get adopted quickly.  I don’t cry anymore.  That’s some progress, right?

Of course I love these guys!  They are the most featured guests in either my old or current blog.  They came to visit my foster kittens and to chase a certain red chicken.  I thought it would be fun to see the first picture I ever took of them for the Chickendiary so here it is!

July 2011

First stop for these kids is always the Buster Man!

Pet me too!

Then they get their kitten fix…

Will, can you tell me how you get your hair so shiny?

Katherine, when did you grow up? STOP IT!

Then, of course, after some serious KittyBunny, they headed to the back yard for some CHICKEN!

The elusive Rhode Island Red in her natural habitat being pursued by the majestic pre-teen human female. Nature is wondrous.

These kids are moving at the end of the summer and the Burlingame farm just won’t be the same with ‘em.  Pike Road’s loss is Lafayette’s gain. 

Flaming-tressed twins Sophie and Tristan are now the proud parents of Lenny & Squiggy!

Their mom went all out and got a large tank with the works for these two lucky fishies.  I’ll make a visit soon so you can see their new digs.  I’m told each got to decorate one side of the tank, so it should make for a “Martha Stewart” home decorating moment!

Of course these two don’t remember visiting Rosie, Daisy & Violet back in the day…

June 2011

June 2011

but I think they’ll remember their chicken-wrangling adventure with Miss Rhoda!

Angie these guys are naturals! I see a great future for them in chicken farming!

I was sorry that they went home before Miss Rhoda left this surprise in her makeshift nest box!

It was lovely fried in a bit of butter with sea salt.

Shortly after I brought PB & Jay home from the shelter, I got a call asking if I could try to socialize a very skittish kitten who seemed to be afraid of humans and was almost feral in his behavior.  I said I would try, so I went to get this “fraidy cat” with high hopes.

I’m fwightened.

The shelter had given him a name that didn’t fit, and I was going to call him “Ferral” but Tama took one look at him gave him the character’s name from one of my favorite movies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfAvQp-Uk5I

If you have not seen Steve Martin in THE JERK you must rectify this situation immediately.

Navin’s story is quite sad.  Apparently, a kind person trapped a mother and all of her kittens except one, and took them to the shelter. (The mom to be fixed and the babies to be farmed out until they made weight.)  Poor little Navin could not be caught, so he lived for many days on his own until he could be trapped and taken to the MHS.  No telling what kind of horrors he endured as a tiny defenseless little guy, but he was lucky to finally be caught and brought to a safe place.

This little black quivering mass of kitten took a long time to get comfortable at Casa de Burlingame.  I had to hold him and give him mandatory love many times during the day.  The first creature in our house he warmed up to was not, however, a human.

Mr. M set about making this new kid smell like a Burlingame.

On his third day, I squeezed a tiny bit of purring out of him and soon he was enjoying the perks of being a member of our family.  PB & Jay allowed him into their little circle and eventually Navin went from feral to tame. 

Thanks for sharing guys.

All three babies weigh close to their fightin’ weight so they’ll be vacating their vacation home soon to get their “snip, snip” and audition for their forever homes.  Maybe a neighbor would like a sweet, well-trained pet to add to the family???   I can personally vouch for their Kitten Kwality!

There has been precious little “chicken” in the kittybunnychicken lately, so how ’bout we remedy that?  Yesterday I got a call from a man who wanted to know if I was the “backyard chicken person”.  After a split second hesitation, I said, “Well, yes, I believe I am!”    He explained that he found me on the internet after googling for info on Montgomery backyard chickens.  He had a rogue Rhode Island Red on his front porch (he lives near Huntingdon College in Montgomery).  He wanted to know if I would be able to find a home for it since he had no idea who she belonged to.  The City of Montgomery has recently amended its laws to allow urban chickens within certain neighborhood guidelines, so this lovely girl was apparently an escapee from one of these backyard chicken farms.  We had a pleasant talk and I invited him to bring his foundling here while I searched for a home for her.  I was thinking of names for my foster chicken, but I could have saved those brain cells because his wife had already named her by the time they arrived.

Meet “Rhoda”

Rhoda’s rescuers are Tom and Caroline. He’s a retired attorney and she a retired teacher with Montgomery magnet schools.

Rhoda is a sweet tame lady and is obviously someone’s pet.  I plan to let her enjoy the Burlingame B&B for a few days until I can find her owners or until I find her a permanent home.  We have the bunny coop out in the back yard which I made “chicken friendly” by putting up a perch and a nest box.  She immediately ate some feed, drank some water and started exploring her new pad as soon as I put her inside.

Hmmmmm…a little small, but not too shabby.

After she settled down and familiarized herself with her house, I let her go in the yard where she acted like she was the queen of the castle.

Herb garden here I come!

Later she hopped up on our lawn chairs for a better view and I was reminded of the days of yore when this was a very familiar scene at our house.

Now THAT’S some kittybunnychicken!

Mulder had never seen a chicken before and at first he was scared to death!

Hold me Daddy!

Buster said “Been there, done that”.  He was totally unimpressed.

So, if you want some chicken love, you know where to come (at least until the HOA gets wind or a grouchy neighbor objects).  Hey,  POULTRY is plural right?  I guess that means just ONE chicken isn’t breaking any rules.

I’ll make you breakfast if you let me stay!

I hear her clucking and making those wonderful chickeny noises while I’m typing this post.  Love it!

Meet my two little foster kids, PB & Jay (both girls).

Can we have a snack?

I haven’t fostered kittens in a long time and I had forgotten how much fun it is.  As always Mr. Mulder has pitched in to show them the ropes.  He is a tireless teacher and he’s always at my service when it comes to training these little guys.

Is this a “mommy” kitty?

He seems like a mommy kitty!

Now listen carefully, I’m only gonna tell you this once. The weird-looking cat is NOT a cat. His name is Buster.

Bunny food tastes TEWWIBLE!

I keep these little monsters for another week.  Come visit and bring the chirren.