May 2022 - Swept away suddenly - Goodbye my dear Sophie and Katniss
It breaks our hearts every time. To Our Beloved Hen Upon Her Passing.
Sophie - (17 April 2014 - 7 May 2022 )
Sophie, our matron Australorp, took sick Friday May 6th, and was dead by Sunday morning May 7th. She was a venerable 8 years and change. Had some tiny white feathers on her head in her old age (who knew?!) From our second batch of chicks, she is survived only by Butterknife. (In the Great Beyond, she joins her sisters Rosa, Flavia, Starbuck and Maude). Such soft feathers. She was often broody, stuck panting and miserable in the nest box in the blazing heat of summer--a breed trait. She was pleasant company, and all things considered, very tolerant of the waves of youngsters we foisted on her. We will miss you.
What can you ask for? A righteous life and a merciful death, and she had both.
Katniss - (8 March 2021 - 29 May 2022. Sunday morning)
Katniss, the very spunky, nippy little Buff Orpington died suddenly and unexpectedly. She wasn't even two. :( Saturday, whe was fine in the morning. By late afternoon, something about her body language as she rested under the little apple tree didn't look right. She looked miserable, her breathing labored. And she didn't come out for evening treats. At dusk, when I went out to tuck everyone in, she had not moved. I picked her up and put her in the 'hospital run.' I just couldn't bear to leave her "outside," and this kept her away from the others in case she was contagious), but let me lock her in the day yard. She was dead, and stiff, when I went out the next morning. We were terribly upset. And could only console ourselves by repeating that she did not suffer. A short life, but as far as we could make it--a very happy one. (Shown below - Left - with Butterknife and Flo-Moe.)
I have posted a video below. Under other circumstances, I'd have titled it: "It's only funny because it's not me...." Now that Katniss is gone, it feels a little like a cautionary tale -- always be kind to others. You never know when you will be swept away and the last images anyone took of you captured you being naughty! :) BAD CHICKEN! lol.
To remind myself: there is more to be said, about graves, that they need tending. About thinking you will remember where you laid them to rest, then you don't?! And pondering "The last time anyone speaks your name" ... the many deaths.
Comments