Missing Martha

No, not Martha Stewart... well, kind of. After many months of me begging and pleading, my husband cracked and let me get some chickens. Like 2 day old little tiny babies and raise them up as pets and use their eggs. Our local hardware store makes you buy 3 so we picked out the prettiest ones we could find and named them. Martha (after Martha Stewart of course) Matilda and Myrtle. Martha was an Americauna, I picked her out because her eggs would be a beautiful tealish blue. The other two are Rhode Island Reds, they lay brown eggs. Raising chickens has been quite an adventure. My husband and I have fallen in love with them all, they are truly part of our family! Martha was scared of just about everything, but once you caught her she would sit in your lap for hours. She stood out from the other two, she was "different", in looks and personality. She was definitely a follower, not so much the leading type. Unfortunately she followed her sister right into the death trap of our neighbors yard, they have BIG dogs, and I won't go into details but it was devastating. Although she was only on this earth a short time I feel like we gave her a wonderful life, we miss her terribly. We have since purchased 3 more babies that are growing so fast and should be laying eggs within the next month or so. They have a lovely coop that they live in and get to free range once a day for a few hours. We have learned that we must be outside or at close range while they are roaming free to keep watch from all the predators. The eggs we get from them are amazing! And the yolks are so much brighter and more vibrant than what you get from the grocery store. For anyone thinking about raising chickens I say go for it, they will change your life.
We will always have a special place in our hearts for Martha, I am so glad I have these photos to look back at.