Today was a little bit of a sad day for us on the homestead. Our Buff Orpington hen passed away. I always felt bad for her because of her life history. She was originally owned by Craig's grandma as part of a small backyard flock of 2 hens. The other hen passed and she was given to Craig's uncle, who already had 4 hens. She was lucky to have survived that transition. Then she was given to us with the other 4 hens and moved with us to our new house. I think she enjoyed having the room to roam and could easily escape from the other hens if need be.
Yesterday she seemed a bit off. She spent a lot of the day by our sliding glass door looking in. I just figured she wanted to be where it was warm. This morning we found her sitting by the front door. When the kids went to pet her, she didn't even try to move, which is highly unusual. She just laid there and eventually shifted to her side. I sprinkled some food by her, hoping she would eat something, but she just laid there. I found the other 4 hens eating her food and practically standing on her! Chickens are so mean to each other. She passed before it was time to pick up my daughter from school.
I think she must have gotten sick, although she didn't have a whole lot of symptoms. She was just lethargic and had some watery poop. It's really too bad, because she had recovered so well from Roxy, our large dog, gnawing on her leg. You couldn't even tell the dog had touched her. Fortunately, the other 4 hens are acting normal, so it seems to be an isolated incident.
My two boys and I had the task of burying her in the yard earlier today. It was sad, but the kids seem to be fine with it. I have tried to help them understand the circle of life and that things live and things die, and I think that's helped. It also doesn't hurt that we have 25 other hens in the garage.
RIP Shirley.
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