Silkies Make Great Pets

Natasha departing the porch of the original chicken house.

Natasha as a young lady in at rare quick paceNatasha was a "silkie". A silkie's feathers don't bind together like regular feathers, they're sort of frayed and therefore fur-like. They are very soft like a kitten, small, have pom poms on their heads, fuzzy feet and lay cute silly little eggs. They can't fly because their feathers don't work and they really can hardly see with all that fur on their face. She reminded me of a Russian princess so I contacted my favorite Russian professor and asked for name suggestions. Natasha (actually named for a Countess rather than a Princess) was very happy and very sweet, but I thought she was a little dumb until I trimmed around her face - exposing her eyes - and with sight, she became noticeably less ditsy! She was always the most vulnerable and one day when I had her out of her cage, I came home to find a hawk eating her.

Word spread quickly among my friends. People would walk cautiously up to me and express their condolences. I even received a very sappy sympathy card in the mail.

Yes, it was very sad, but the life of a chicken mother is not always as carefree as it appears. To appease my guilt I decided that it's better to have a short happy life than a long miserable one and I was glad I allowed her to take the dust baths in my garden that she so loved and were ultimately her demise.