Stella joined the farm along with eight other baby chicks in March 2008.  I had picked out the other little cheeping puff balls of the breeds I wanted and was ready to leave. Then I noticed a tiny Americana chick, all golds and reds and all by herself.  I just couldn’t leave her behind, so added her to the mix.

This was my first try at raising chickens, so I learned a lot.  First of all, there really is such a thing as a ‘pecking order’ and the chickens, even when they are tiny, seem to know if they are different breeds.  So the other chicks had each other and Stella was a loner.  But she hung in there and stood up for herself.  We named her simply because she was so easy to tell apart from the others.  She was our favorite.

Her eggs were light green with little speckles on them.

But she tended to hang out alone, rather than in the pack with the others.  This may have made her vulnerable.  Even though they were supposedly safe within the garden fence, something got in and took Stella, leaving only a patch of golden feathers and her lovely memory.

So here is a photo of her in the garden near the flowers.

We’ll miss you dear Stella. May you rest in peace in hen heaven with lots of worms and grains and soft nests to sit on to lay your green speckled eggs…