New Additions!

Two weeks ago, we brought home a couple of chickens to join the Bragonje homestead. They are named Pepper (pictured below) and Daisy:

They sure are cute! The follow us around in the yard and even come clucking up to the back door. They are super soft, very sociable, and generally delightful. During the day, they hang out in the old dog house that was here when we bought the house, under the trees, on the retaining wall, or under the quail hutch. They spend their nights in a chicken coop Michael built from scrap lumber and parts we had from our many construction projects. Way to go Michael!

The dogs haven't quite adjusted to them yet, but I'm sure they'll come around.

Bring home the chickens got me thinking about all of the animals Michael and I have owned since getting married in August 2008:

Names: Nicodemus (Nick) and Maximilian (Max)
Species: Hooded rats
Origins: Joined us shortly after we were married. We really wanted pets, and they were all we could have in the place we were living at the time.
Status: Died December 2009 and February 2010.
Cause of Death: We suspect it was some tainted food we had fed them. R.I.P.

Name: Penelope
Species: Black lab/border collie
Origins: Joined our family October 10, 2009 as an 8-week-old rescue puppy. We closed on our house on the 9th, and we just couldn't wait to get a dog.
Status: Living

Name: Phoebe
Species: Black lab/shepherd
Origins: Joined our family April 24, 2010 as a 10-week-old rescue puppy. I was at the Loomis Earth Day celebration on my way home when I saw the rescue group setting up. Who could pass up an adorable black lab puppy?
Status: Living

Names: n/a
Species: Long-haired cats
Origins: Penelope found a litter of 2-week-old kittens in the bushes at my parents' house. The were these adorable little black balls of fur.We brought them home and managed to trap the mother the next day.
Status: Adopted. We kept them in our bathroom for a couple of weeks or so before finding a shelter that would adopt them out. We just didn't have time or space for 7 cats and 2 dogs.

Names: n/a
Species: Japanese quail
Origins: They joined us August 2010 (an acquisition from some local Russians)
Status: Of the original 4 females and 2 males, 2 females and 1 male are currently living. With the warm weather, they have started laying eggs again!
Cause of Death: 1) Natural causes, 2) Phoebe mistaking one for a chew toy after it escaped the hutch, and 3) pecked to death*. R.I.P.

*Poultry, in general, can be pretty violent. You want to be careful about introducing new birds to an existing flock, and if any birds have wounds, the other birds can go kind of crazy on them.

Names: Pepper and Daisy
Species: Silky/frizzle hens
Origins: Joined out happy home on Sunday, May 29, 2011. A woman in Lincoln was moving and couldn't take these beauties with her, so she gave them away, free to a good home.
Status: Living.

There you have it folks. In our next house, we hope to add sheep or goats to the list, and maybe a couple of cats. And rabbits would be fun. Oh, and how about...