Rufina comes home to roost, Part 1: Meet The Garcia Sisters
I’m on my way to Mexico this week but I thought I’d squeeze in an update about my favorite blind chicken, Rufina (her story begins here), and her new companions.
Meet the Garcia sisters.
Uno
Dos
More about them later. First, Rufina’s story continues from last summer…
Back in late July when it became clear that hers was not a fleeting vitality, Rufina posed a slight dilemma for me: her days on the studio porch were limited by the impending winter, and I had nowhere else to keep her and no money for a custom coop. She had made great progress learning to be blind, transforming from a sedentary spoon-fed creature into a confident navigator who used her outstretched neck like a blind cane, locating food and water with her feet.
I thought her rehabilitation, now nearly complete, should end with independence: a restored state of pullus libertatum where she could come and go as she pleased, no longer reliant on me to carry her to and from the garden, risking accidental death by Whippet not to mention a gradual, perilous evolvement into house pet.
So, in deference to the greater good and Rufina’s true nature, I made the decision to send her off in August to live with a friend’s two chickens in another part of the city, where I imagined she would spend the rest of her days as an ordinary, fulfilled flock member.
“Vacation” lasted approximately seven weeks. During that time, I realized that her story is only half-lived, would never be ordinary, and I wanted to see it through to the end. Whenever that may be. I was inspired by the account of Old Man Henry’s passing, written by the talented Jared Gulian on his fantastic blog (now book!), Moon Over Martinborough. Plus, I discovered that the burgeoning urban chicken trend in this country has spawned a whole industry of inexpensive readymade coops that ship right to your door.
So, yes. I reclaimed Rufina and Isabella and I have joined the legions of backyard chickeneers.
Of course, I would never bring Rufina home to live a solitary life, so I set about finding some chicks.
It’s not easy to find baby chicks in October. I researched local and online sources and learned a lot about chickens. For example, did you know that chickens are categorized by not only size/weight, egg size/color, and fancy/dorky, but also cold hardiness, country of origin, and personality? Yeah, me neither! I always thought a chicken was more or less a chicken.
I eventually found chicks at a local bait store and chose two Buff Orpingtons (English heritage) because they were described as “quiet, docile, and affectionate.” Sounded like the ideal chicken to me!
Politely cuddling up in their food dish.
Thankfully, The Garcia sisters live up to their breed description and are completely different from their filthy little predecessors,the Crazed Amerucanas*. They aren’t skittish or frantic, don’t thrash around when we pick them up, and gently scrape the poop off their giant feet should they happen to misstep. True to their British ancestry, these “Buffs” are polite, private, and vaguely repressed.
*Disputed ancestry, Peru-Chile-American mix-up, an identity crisis that may explain their tendencies toward the maniacal
Unfortunately, they are also terrified of Rufina. I don’t know why. Well, except that she viciously pecks them whenever they touch her. There is that. They learned quickly during their first short visits to stay out of her way. Maybe they don’t even realize that the big black pecking machine is also a chicken (?).
In any case, they are adapting to life in the coop during the day, and back to their indoor chick box at night until they’re fully feathered. Rufina seems content, climbing up the ramp to her new roost whenever she wants, dirt or sun bathing as the mood strikes her, gorging on water. Perhaps she will be happier when I have time to enclose the 6′ x 8′ former garden bed for more room to roam.
But for now, she lives as any other chicken would and from a distance you can’t tell, you wouldn’t know she’s blind except for maybe her creeping, careful steps but up close, up close you can see it: the deformed gunshot side and the moving side, under the skin where her one good eye used to be, now shrunken and receded into the mystery of her head but some part of it still alive, back-and-forth, back and forth shifting under blue-black skin as she listens and responds with that one dead eye to the million little heartbeats and secrets of her dark world.
Part 2 to follow.
Live Clay 
In chicken etiquette chicks are much older when introduced to adult chickens and then only very gradually. I suggest you create a protected area within the coop for the chicks until they are bigger.
Thanks for reading and commenting, and for the advice, Ruth! I actually did research introducing chicks to normal (sighted) hens, and read about a separate pen so they can see but not touch each other. That wasn’t really helpful here because obviously, Rufina can’t see them. I let her listen to them for a few days before introducing, and then gradually put them in the coops a few hours at a time. Now they are fine. The chicks have learned to stay out of her way and have the advantage. She has adjusted to them too.
You’re like the Florence Nightingale of chickens!
Did you check Rufina’s breed to see if they get along with the chick breed?
*blush* thanks Guap, I’m flattered that you think so! Now I want a little cap with a cross on it…
I’m not sure what exact breed Rufina is but she seems similar to a Sumatran, maybe a mixture. But I got the Buff Orpington’s because, even if her breed is aggressive, theirs is not. They quickly learned to stay out of her way (I monitored them pretty closely in the beginning to make sure they weren’t in a torture chamber). I suspect that as they continue to grow, so will the coop harmony.:)
I’m not a traditional chicken person unless it’s fried or on a stick, but your writing could make me a convert. Hope you and your new family members are doing well. Glad Rufina is settling in with her new friends. =)
Stacie! Great to see you here, thanks so much for stopping by. I miss your posts “/ Fried or on a stick… that’s funny. I was once a nugget person, myself, but I soon realized they was like the particle board of chicken products, so I ceased and desisted about 25 yrs ago. I guess you never know where you might encounter conversion, thanks for the kind words 🙂
I cannot begin to tell you how much of a fan i am of this chicken. But you already know that, and you’re a champion for everything you’ve done for her. Happy to hear she’s come home. May your days together be many.
Thank you John! I’m glad her story has been meaningful to so many people and I appreciate the good wishes. And just wait… in the next post, maybe a way to have a little piece of the for yourself…. 😉
Yanked from the delightful English countryside and forced to live in a small cage with a blind, violent witch. Great job!
Holy Ameraucanas I just fell off my chair laughing…!!
It’s good that Rufina is home in your backyard. I know Isabella will take good care of her and the adorable English Garcia sisters while you are wandering around Mexico.
Rufina’s saga is fascinating, but your last sentence is a movie in words! It has been a long time since I’ve read something so vivid!
Thank you Maggi, I’m happy that I’m not the only one who’s found an interesting story in this chicken–glad I could do it justice with the right words!
what a beautiful story…every one of God’s creatures deserves to live
Thank you Janice! Yes, nothing that lives can be dismissed.
Thanks Janice, and I agree!