we have 1 rhode island hen left of a batch of 25,,,we got them as day old chicks in 2005,,,in the summer and fall of 2010,,the owls,,,the coyotes,,,and the foxes desimated our flock and Red was the only one left,,,she spent the entire winter alone in the chicken house ,,,,we don't have a heated barn and no electricity out there at the time,,,she slept with the goats and occasionally with the geese,,,,every morning she would make her way over the snow drifts ,,which that year were about 4 ft high,,,and come up to the house to let us know it was food time,,,then she would sit in the sun,,,huddled against the warm backdrop of the dark siding of the porch,,,,she made it thru that long lonely winter,,,and in the spring we got a new patch of white leghorns,,,she taught them everything she knew and when the roosters got big enough to crow she kicked their asses and let them know who was boss,,,,she is 8 years old now ,,,she has never had any disease,,,she is a free range chicken who eats bugs and seeds and has never had an antibiotic ,,,,,she is an inspiration to me,,,I keep every feather she drops for she is my hero!
