Ode to Old Hens... Pictures of the Seniors in Our Flock

[memphis]

Sounds like Meg was a grand ole gal. I love my old girls and know how hard it is loosing them.

 

[wekiva bird]

It's with great sadness that we announce Meg's passing today. She lived almost two years longer than her main man, Suede, and would have turned 8 years old in January. She was not ill, just old. Meg died in her daddy's arms. My husband adored this hen. Thanks to Julie Batchelor (Bama Chicken) who sent me the eggs from her RIR rooster over exhibition Buff Orpington hens to pad the shipment of Blue Orp eggs that Suede hatched from. Meg was the mother of many gorgeous sons and daughters; some of you may remember Traveler or Roosevelt or Hector, three of her sons with Suede. She outlived them all. RIP, beautiful red girl.

So sorry , it's so hard .

 

[abserbean]

So sorry for your loss, she seemed like a great hen.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks, all. She certainly was a grand old lady. I used to call her a red brick wall because no matter which hen thought she'd take her on, Meg would rise to her full height, look down at her, and give that hen "the look" that said, "You really don't want to go there"; even Snow, my cantankerous old splash Ameraucana hen in the coop next door, was backed down without even a tussle when they were let out together as an experiment at the end of last year.

Meg was respected and very dominant. That is why my Buff Brahma hen, Caroline, who was brooded with Meg and Suede, was never put in the same coop after Suede died. Neither of those two would ever back down and I knew one would go keel up. Two alpha hens don't do well together. I guess Dusty, my 6 year old Blue Orp, is head hen now. Neither Nugget nor Hope will mess with her, and frankly, neither will Xander, LOL.

Next in age are Caroline, then two months younger than her are the BR hens, Becca and Amanda. They will all be 8 years old just after the beginning of the year. Gypsy, my black Ameraucana, will be 7 in November. And I have a slew of 6 year old hens: June, Nora, Snow, Dusty and Nugget are all 6 now, with June the oldest of those. My Delaware hens are 5 1/2 and one of those, Ellie, is ailing from something internal so I have already dug another place in the chicken graveyard.

 

[Ellie]

So so sorry to hear about our Meg. She was such a wonderful girl. She reminds me of my Lucy and Buffy mixed together, Big, red and tough.

I'm sorry to hear about my namesake too. It is so nice have had her all these years and I know Suede was happy with her too.

 

[speckledhen]

So so sorry to hear about our Meg. She was such a wonderful girl. She reminds me of my Lucy and Buffy mixed together, Big, red and tough.

I'm sorry to hear about my namesake too. It is so nice have had her all these years and I know Suede was happy with her too.

Suede adored her, Ellie. It's odd that exactly two years ago this month was the first sign that Suede was starting his decline. It was only a weak sounding crow that at first, I attributed to the heat, but it wasn't the heat. And he steadily lost weight and slept more, even on the ground, something he had never done in his entire life; of course, Meg watched over him when he slept. Now, she's flown away with him.

In naming my old hens, I forgot Panda, who is also six years old. I have 37 Large Fowl chickens left and over one third of those I consider elderly, including my sweet Isaac (at this writing, he is my avatar, for those who don't know). Thankfully, at the moment, he seems quite robust, even though usually he has issues in summer heat/humidity.

 

[speckledhen]

Miss Nora may be leaving us soon. She weighs probably no more than 3 lbs from the feel of her. She is lethargic and isn't eating much, but her crop is sluggish, a sign of systems beginning to shut down. We gave her some scrambled egg with yogurt and olive oil and did a crop massage this morning and I took the opportunity to snap a couple pics of her beautiful face. She has such a lovely set of beard and muffs. She is Cree Farms Ameraucana stock and when she did lay, laid the most beautiful shade of deep blue. Nora is 6 1/2 years old.

 

[speckledhen]

Nora passed away a few minutes ago, laying in the dappled shade with a beautiful breeze blowing across her feathers and both of us sitting beside her. She will be so missed.

 

[Pinkaboo]

So sad for you
She looks beautiful

 

[speckledhen]

Thank you. She was a very beautiful hen, maybe the prettiest one here.