“What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” A male guinea pig called Ms. Piggy can still become a dad. A pretty little rooster called Kitty can still “Cock-a Doodle-Do”. In fact he can crow just as loud as if his name were Hercules, Boris or Tiger. We don’t always get the naming of pets right the first time.
Sometimes we miss the mark by a wide margin. Our first little chick to be named was Ivory. She was a pure white cotton ball on top of two tiny yellow legs. Three weeks later, Ivory, now re-named Chunky, was already taller than his Silky Mum, Smokey. Chunky is still white but his leg colour is now obscured by feathers that are longer than any of his sibling’s wing feathers. Chunky barrels around the coop with all the grace and intensity of his other Mum, Pea Hen, and looks to be the only young chick that could out grow her.
Ebony was paired with Ivory on the first day. A fluffy black compliment for fluffy white Ivory. Ebony is still completely black as her feathers grow out to replace her black baby fluff. She is small and delicate in comparison to Chunky and so has remained his perfect compliment.
Three little yellow chicks were given the names Spot, Dot and Not. Spot’s only marking was a big black spot on her head. Dot had a tiny little black dot on the same spot on her head and Not, well, Not didn’t have a spot, dot, jot, blot, not even a fleck, speck or blemish of any kind. She was a little ball of yellow fluff from tip to toe. Spot and Dot now have bright white feathers with laced-black necks while Not again missed out and is a picture of white feathers all the way down to her toes.
Zoro’s black mask has been removed to reveal a stunning black and white pattern over his whole body. Eric, named after a penguin in Happy Feet 2, has swapped his white eyebrows and tuxedo pattern for a fluffy black hat on top of an all black body. His name only needed a slight tweak: we now call Eric, Erica! Raven, nailed that one too. A strong name for such a distinctly marked chick who has grown out her gorgeous plumage with none of the teenage awkwardness some of her siblings.
Then there’s Enola. Still unique. Still pretty. Still quiet. She has quietly gone from “one of the white” chicks, to a pretty little chicken with unique markings on perfect plumage. Lighter than Raven in colour, darker than Not. Bigger than Erica, smaller than Chunky. She is all alone in being Enola.
Sometimes we get a name just right. Smudge. I can’t think of cuter name for the cutest chicken ever to spread her gorgeous orange and black wings. She continues to get cuter as she gets older. Brilliant black eyes peek out over fluffy cheeks and from underneath a fluffy Mohawk. She is a smudge of greys, browns, oranges and black that is topped off with a fluffy grey pom-pom tail. Just attempting to put all that cuteness into perspective stirs up a smudge of emotions.
