CEO and chief coop cleaner
Gwenne is a retired nurse-midwife. She started her career as a delivery room nurse in several local hospitals before going to school at UMDNJ to become a midwife. She has worked on the staff of two different hospitals in South Jersey and has delivered over 2000 babies. After her retirement she decided to do those things that a 100 hour workweek prohibited and became a master Gardner. She also took several classes in chicken husbandry only to discover that it was illegal to raise chickens in her town. Five years later she persuaded the local council to pass a pilot law to allow up to four hens. 24 families enrolled in the pilot and it hasn't really cost the community anything. After several successful years of zero complaints, in 2018 the pilot program was converted to an ordinance allowing up to eight backyard hens (no roosters) . In early 2020 she stepped down as Chair of the Haddon Township Backyard Chicken Program and is now Chair Emeritus. She is on the Backyard Chicken Advisory Board of Oaklyn, NJ and Woodbury, NJ as well as Haddon Township. She continues to advise other communities in ways to update restrictive ordinances to allow backyard hens. Gwenne teaches the required class "The Basics of Raising Backyard Chickens in the Suburbs" approximately four times a year. She is a Certified Handler of Therapy Chickens through the Chickens and You/Gossimer Foundation. In 2019 she taught a class certifying ten new handlers. She will be teaching this class approximately one a year if demand warrants.
Therapy Chicken
Blossom was a foundling, alone in the wild. She had a great personality and she was a quick learner. She was attempting to learn the piano. In this photo she is modeling her diaper. Due to the untimely death of Rosebud, the therapy chicken, Blossom was working full time. Sadly she passed away in October, 2019 due to a problem their breed (red sex-links) often encounters
The Original Therapy chicken
Rosebud had a natural tendency to be a therapy chicken. One could handle her and she would sit on a person's lap unattended. If it was an older person she would feel the calmness and start to fall asleep. Some kids would sing to her. She would listen intently. She would ride in the car and listen to the radio. Then she would become mesmerized and fade off to sleep. She was a good bird and worked many hours per week. Rosebud died of natural causes 4/14/2018 Blossom is taking over her duties.
Head gofer, communications manager, coop maintenance engineer
After 35 years in the telephone and computer business Ron retired, went to work for a railroad and is a licensed engineer. He occasionally accompanies chickens to events and can fill in where needed.
