With great sadness I must announce that my dear sweet bantam Orpington hen, Cookie, passed away on Sunday. She was the queen of all broody hens and mother to most of my flock.
For the 1st few years of her life, Cookie was my only bantam. She hatched along with full-sized orps and could hold her own. She knew how to use her size and speed to dash in & under the others to steal all the best treats. Cookie earned the nickname, "the bantam menace," because of her stealthy actions (and our Star Wars theme).
Cookie was an adorable ball of feathers and looked like a mini hot air balloon when broody. She could also pancake herself to accommodate up to 8-9 large fowl eggs. We called her "Cookie Monster" when broody. Because our roos were always large English Orpingtons, Cookie never had any biological offspring, but that never seemed to bother her. Going broody early & often was her mode of operandi . Her motto was, "If it peeps, it's MINE!" She never seemed to quit. She could scream like a banshee but was never "pecky" toward my fingers.
Cookie earned the title of Queen Broody not because of her large spread or hatching ability but for her multiple adoptions. She raised bantams, large fowl chicks, ducklings, turkeys, and quail. If it peeped, Cookie would care for it. Because she was small, it was easier for us to add Cookie to the big brooder and just let her adopt all the chicks. Her record was over 3 dozen! She happened to go broody about 3-4 days before a big hatch was due. I pulled one egg out at lockdown and slipped it under her..... then added the incubator chicks a few at a time as they hatched. She must have thought she was "SuperHen." She sat on ONE egg for 3 days and hatched over 3 dozen chicks! Thankfully Cookie couldn't count, so as some chicks were sold, more were added the following week. She could easily handle chicks of different ages and species. (I certainly wouldn't try that with any other hen.) To Cookie, learning how to scratch was the most important lesson for her chicks. It didn't matter if there was a full bowl of chick feed. Cookie would tidbit to her babies and go into a scratching frenzy - spreading food everywhere and sometimes even sending an unlucky chick flying across the brooder. LOL
Last summer Cookie started laying soft shelled eggs. Extra calcium didn't help. I felt relieved when she was broody because it paused her egg production. She never really laid another normal egg and I knew she had some type of reproduction disorder. About 2 months ago, Cookie started slowing down and losing weight. A lump under her vent began to grow. She ate and drank and hung out with my laced orps, but she no longer "ran around" like she used to. She would come when called - but at a walking pace. Like a true orpington, she never lost her desire to eat. After she passed, I did a necropsy and found a large lash egg. (Salpingitis) My only good news is that she is no longer in pain.
RIP My Sweet Little Cookie
April 22, 2013 - March 28, 2021
This is how I will always remember her:
Inflation
Hot chicks in cars. (My daughter actually played with Cookie like a baby doll, so seeing her driving around the bedroom with Barbie wasn't unusual.)
Cookie asking herself, "Why did I want to go broody again?"
Below: The only picture I have where Cookie's feet can be seen.
"No Cookie! Stop trying to incubate that!"
A rare sight - Cookie without chicks
Spring 2020 hatch (Yes, most are turkey poults)
Cookie and her baby turkeys
Don't you just love a good broody scowl?!
Forgive me for being long, but many of you knew my beloved Cookie. She will be forever remembered as a wonderful chicken, mother, special pet, and family member.
