Goodbye Maryanne, last of our original three hens

[patandchickens]

Maryanne was laying internally since last August at least, but was fairly happy til a couple days ago when she started having trouble getting around. Alas, she was curled up in the nestbox, cold and beginning to stiffen, when I found her this morning, poor thing.

She was the last of our original three, and I put her body in the freezer so that when the ground thaws I can bury her at the top of the hill under the honeysuckle bush with her sisters Matilda and Marigold who went on before her.

I am really dismayed to ahve lost all three to internal laying so young - Maryanne, the longest-surviving one, was only two years plus a few months old. I can't see that it's anything I'm doing wrong. They are *not* fat, and they are kept in clean surroundings with good food and all that. I wonder whether being a high-production breed to begin with and then possibly being artificially lit to push for early laying (they were already laying when I bought them at 16-18 wks of age in mid April) may have messed them up. I dunno.

She was a fun chicken, though, and I will miss her.

My 4 yr old suggests that next year we should get three more of the same kind of chicken and name them Marigold II, Matilda II, and Maryanne II

And you know, we just might. But regular garden-variety red sexlinks, I think, not ISA Browns, and get them as chicks and let them develop at their own pace.

Sigh,

Pat

 

[sussexgal]

Oh Pat! SO sorry you lost Maryanne.... it's always hard to say goodbye.... they leave a hole when they go.

 

[chicklady63]

It's a little like the ending of an era when you lose your original birds. I have one little black silkie hen that is a daughter to one of my five original birds from 9 yrs. ago. Her name is Isabel. Her mother was Georgette, both such sweethearts. She doesn't even lay any more but I wouldn't even think of not keeping her. She's like a little tame puppy dog & follows me when I let her. (I worry about the hawks around here too much to let her do that for more than a few minutes.)
So sorry for your loss. Get some more though, it always helps.

 

[gritsar]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[MoodyChicken]

I'm so sorry! I still have one of my original hens, she's 10, and she still lays an egg every other month in the summer (so a grand total of one egg a year!)

But it's heartbreaking to lose your original chickens, or any chickens for that matter. Get some more, they'll be just as fun and you can tell them stories about their names

If they were related, it was probably hereditary. That's really common in production red strains. You could have sucked the eggs out with a needle if they weren't laid too deeply in the body cavity.

 

[cmom]

So sorry for your loss. I like your 4 yr old's suggestion. It's amazing how we bond to our birds.

 

[speckledhen]

Pat, I feel what you feel. I've lost four of my original hens to internal laying last year. It's sad to know they are slowly wasting away at the end. I dont want to do that anymore. So far, it's only been the hatchery girls. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Guitartists]

 

[dave_Cash69]

sorry bout your loss

 

[rooster-red]

Sorry for your loss.