Things are hopping at the Bonner Family Chicken Land. Henrietta, Pearl, Ginger and Waterhead are all laying eggs (more or less regularly and in the correct place).

We recently brought home a new pullet to replace the dearly departed Black Bart. Clarence Anderson, our chicken man in Lovell, called one day, out of the blue, to ask if we were ever going to come get our pullet.

I was surprised to hear from him, but pleased. When we realized several months ago that Gertrude actually should have been named Gerard, the first person I called was Clarence to see if he wanted to swap a rooster for a hen. He told me that three of the five Brahma chicks he bought turned out to be roosters, so, no, he didn't want Gertrude/Gerard back.

I subsequently called another chicken person and arranged to swap our rooster for Ginger. End of story, I thought, though I still really wanted a Brahma hen. Apparently, Clarence and I had some crossed wires somewhere, and I was supposed to have made the trip to Lovell to pick up Gertrude/Gerard's replacement.

When I told Bliss that our weekend plans involved going to pick up a new chicken, she was thrilled.

“Mommy,” she said, “I'm going to name our new chicken Cucumber.”

I agreed, of course — who wouldn't think Cucumber was an excellent name for a chicken? — and on Sunday we headed to Lovell.

When we arrived at Clarence's, we learned he had put our pullet in a separate, smaller cage with another hen so he could easily catch her — apparently, Clarence is not busy making pets out of his flock the way the Bonners are.

So, we transferred Cucumber to our transporting pen, loaded her in the car and we headed home.

About 10 miles down the road, Bliss said, “Mom, I think Cucumber needs a last name.”

I murmured that I agreed, expecting the naming to take a little work. No, it seems Bliss had been thinking about it for a while.

“It's Jamboree,” she said, without missing a beat.

It should come as no surprise that Cucumber Jamboree stuck.

I've yet to hear of a better chicken name!

Things are hopping at the Bonner Family Chicken Land. Henrietta, Pearl, Ginger and Waterhead are all laying eggs (more or less regularly and in the correct place).

We recently brought home a new pullet to replace the dearly departed Black Bart. Clarence Anderson, our chicken man in Lovell, called one day, out of the blue, to ask if we were ever going to come get our pullet.

I was surprised to hear from him, but pleased. When we realized several months ago that Gertrude actually should have been named Gerard, the first person I called was Clarence to see if he wanted to swap a rooster for a hen. He told me that three of the five Brahma chicks he bought turned out to be roosters, so, no, he didn't want Gertrude/Gerard back.

I subsequently called another chicken person and arranged to swap our rooster for Ginger. End of story, I thought, though I still really wanted a Brahma hen. Apparently, Clarence and I had some crossed wires somewhere, and I was supposed to have made the trip to Lovell to pick up Gertrude/Gerard's replacement.

When I told Bliss that our weekend plans involved going to pick up a new chicken, she was thrilled.

“Mommy,” she said, “I'm going to name our new chicken Cucumber.”

I agreed, of course — who wouldn't think Cucumber was an excellent name for a chicken? — and on Sunday we headed to Lovell.

When we arrived at Clarence's, we learned he had put our pullet in a separate, smaller cage with another hen so he could easily catch her — apparently, Clarence is not busy making pets out of his flock the way the Bonners are.

So, we transferred Cucumber to our transporting pen, loaded her in the car and we headed home.

About 10 miles down the road, Bliss said, “Mom, I think Cucumber needs a last name.”

I murmured that I agreed, expecting the naming to take a little work. No, it seems Bliss had been thinking about it for a while.

“It's Jamboree,” she said, without missing a beat.

It should come as no surprise that Cucumber Jamboree stuck.

I've yet to hear of a better chicken name!