It's harder to name a chicken than a child

The kids have cycled through many names for our chickens: Angel, Dusk, Lydia, Ingrid. When I suggest mildly humorous names like "Goofball" or "Runt" they become indignant and tell me how mean I am. 

  

The trouble is, pretty names don't stick. It's hard to see the "Ingridness" of a black Australorp who eats flies (and worse) and uses the communal water bowl as a latrine. 

However, we have had one great naming triumph. She is perhaps the least gifted, most timid chicken in the flock and that's really saying something. Owen named her Einstein on account of the white head feathers, then we added Alberta for femininity. Totally stuck. When my kids run through the yard calling for "Alberta Einstein" they mean it in the most genuine, loving way. Obviously, if you're old and mean you can see the irony. Name works for all of us!