As all my friends know I’m an unapologetic animal enthusiast. I love animals and that love of animals is reflected in my life. I’m that girl on social media who is always taking selfies with a turkey or giving a tribute to a deceased cat. That’s just who I am. So when it comes to pets you can only imagine what goes on past the work-in-progress-wall at “Camp Clark and Chicken Palace,” as my dad calls our residence. My house is practically a farm or a zoo, depending upon the day. At one point my family had a total of about fifty chickens and other animals. Now our family pets include five chickens, one turkey, and four cats. Each of the animals (including the chickens) has a name and a unique personality. I will briefly go over them. The chickens include: Annie, Perch, Captain Blackbeard, Dorothy, and Beautiful.
Annie was bought because Dorothy went broody and wanted chicks. Out of two chicks one was crushed, and the other was Annie. Dorothy turned out to be a horrible mother and would run around the yard paying no attention to Annie who would chirp as loud as possible for her mother. However Dorothy still paid no attention and left poor Annie alone so she became quite tame as a chick with all her human “mother’s” attention. Sadly Annie most likely won’t be around much longer as she has a large mass which is most likely cancer on her chest.
Perch (originally Perchy) was named by Jack a close family friend because she loved to perch on your arm or shoulder. She is a White Leghorn and is good friends with Tom the turkey. They often hangout together in the yard.
Captain, or formally Captain Blackbeard, was named by some of my closest friends. She is a little gray chicken I believe to be an Americana. She’s neither very wild or tame but lays gorgeous light olive colored eggs.
Dorothy, the horrible mother, was originally Jack’s chicken (the close friend who named Perch). She was one of his four chickens and is named after the “Golden Girls” like the rest of his chickens. Dorothy is a beautiful greenish-blackish color.
Beautiful, originally Broken Toe, is a hen we bought off Craigslist from a breeder who didn’t like to go cold turkey, or rather cold chicken, with his unbreedable birds. I originally named her Broken Toe because of her two toes which bent in a way which made them appear broken. However I started to feel bad for naming her that so I renamed her Beautiful. She suffers from arthritis but is one tough cookie and living on just fine.
On to the turkey. Tom is a sweet turkey we bought during an Atwoods trip upon seeing her all alone in a bin. She was far too old to be there and we decided to get her. I’m sure glad we did. The employees at the store told us they were very happy we were taking her because she would chirp all day so one employee sang to her to keep her happy. Tom is very tame because of all the human attention she receives and is by far one of my favorite pets. She follows you around and has been known to walk in my dad’s man cave while recording is in progress, interrupting the radio!
Russell Simmons, Steve Jobs, Donald, and Dart are the names of our cats. We received Russell Simmons, Steve Jobs, and Donald for Christmas of last year. They’re very sweet and loving kittens. Donald is named after President Trump, while the other two are named after strictly business men.
Dart, or Darty was a stray at our last house and we convinced her to become part of our crazy home. She is a dark black cat who was very thin when we got her but has since put on a healthy amount of weight.
My pets are important to me and always will be. I love animals and I always will. I hope you enjoyed hearing about my pets and their unique stories.
