The passing of an icon...

I've known this day was coming for a while: the day I would have to make a post about the passing of my sweet little chicken, Sandra. Most of you know the story of how Sandra came to live with us, but I would like to submit this little biography to memorialize her life.

Colonel Sandra Barbara Q Chicken came to live with us in the spring of 2005. My friend Lindsey sent me a link to her dog K-So on petfinder.com when she was still considering whether or not to get a dog. Mourning the recent loss of my two ducklings, Pato and Ingrid, at the jaws of two mongrel mutts next door, I wondered if any of the animal shelters along the Wasatch Front had any pet poultry up for adoption. My search turned up Sandra in the West Jordan Animal Shelter, and I knew this was the chicken for me. She was the only chicken in Utah on the site. She was found wandering the streets in West Jordan, which earned her the title of 'street chicken' around our household.

Sandra was soon joined by Camilla, who I purchased a few months later at the Utah State Fair. Camilla was only with us for a little over a year. I believe she died from a disease called 'Chicken M.S.', but I can't remember the specifics of the disease, only that it's usually passed from the mother chicken to the chick through the egg or blood contact. Incidentally, there are very few diseases that can be passed from poultry to humans, namely West Nile Virus, and Chicken M.S. is not one of them.

Sandra and Camilla: the early and healthy days.



Snuggling with Sage in the sun.

Sandra was a happy chicken who quite often spent her nights perched atop the barbeque. She loved eating fruit and vegetable scraps and helping me in the garden. She would cluck with pleasure whenever she found a snail in my garden box and then relished eating it. Sandra also liked to follow Howard (the cat) around the yard. I think they had a special bond, though Howard doesn't like to admit it. She also regularly snuggled with the dogs in the sun. She gave us large brown eggs with dark yellow yolks for a few years before I think she came down with Chicken M.S. We have no idea how old she was when she died, but she was definitely geriatric. The past few years she struggled with the disease, but she had quite the will to live. She finally surrendered and was laid to rest in the backyard near her chicken house on Thursday, November 13 around 10:30 am. Myelle, Nellie, Sage, Barnaby and I attended a graveside service, with Howard mourning in his own way a few yards away. A eulogy and was given graciously by Myelle.

Myelle and Sandra in May 2008.

We will miss our sweet little Sandra, though Brian is happy there will be no more chicken poop on the patio. Ya. Can't argue with that.

~Claudia