In Memoriam - Open To All

[MROO]

Some people don't understand, but there are the few that do. When you can call an animal "friend" they deserve a memorial. I hope she forgives my portrait skills.
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What a great idea! I'm gonna do it, now, too ... in all that spare time I've always got, right? But I DO love the idea ... so I'm gonna try!

 

[micstrachan]

I think we all loved Margo! We followed her for so long it felt like we knew her, too!

Thank you! She was special for sure. They all are.

 

[CLovesDucks]

Today, we lost a beautiful Rhode Island Red hen simply named "Big Red" who was one of the sweetest birds I've ever met. She was a good girl, who had the personality of a loyal puppy dog and was once the head of her flock. She's been through illness before, but today it seems heart failure finally took her.

So in her honor, I want to open a memorial thread that's just a simple place to share photos and stories of the chickens, geese, ducks, peafowl, and all those beautiful poultry we've loved and lost. Post a picture, tell your favorite memory, and just remember the good times you've had with those feathered friends.

In homestead spirit, I light a lantern for Big Red. Rest in peace silly bird.
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Rest in peace, Big Red!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Was Bagheera an Australorp? She was beautiful! They are on my wish list.

 

[MROO]

Pepper, my bestest broody Nankin and the sweetest hen I've ever met ...

And Yukon - my sweet little OEGB buddy. He was named Yukon Cornelius because, as a baby, he was snow white; but as he grew, he couldn't make up his mind if he was silver or gold. By the time he finished getting his color (a few months after this pic was taken) he was a beautiful red pyle. He would walk on a leash and ride on my shoulder, like a parrot. He was so well behaved that he was a regular at our TSC. The cashier would always give him a bit of dog biscuit ... and he knew it. He even knew where they were kept at the checkout, so if she wasn't quick enough, he'd hop down and help himself! I lost my Yukon to coccidiosis, last year ... and I still miss him!

 

[micstrachan]

Was Bagheera an Australorp? She was beautiful! They are on my wish list.

Yes, a wonderful Australorp.

 

[micstrachan]

Pepper, my bestest broody Nankin and the sweetest hen I've ever met ...
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And Yukon - my sweet little OEGB buddy. He was named Yukon Cornelius because, as a baby, he was snow white; but as he grew, he couldn't make up his mind if he was silver or gold. By the time he finished getting his color (a few months after this pic was taken) he was a beautiful red pyle. He would walk on a leash and ride on my shoulder, like a parrot. He was so well behaved that he was a regular at our TSC. The cashier would always give him a bit of dog biscuit ... and he knew it. He even knew where they were kept at the checkout, so if she wasn't quick enough, he'd hop down and help himself! I lost my Yukon to coccidiosis, last year ... and I still miss him!

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Aw. I’m sorry for your losses Rest in peace Pepper and Yukon.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Well the only chicken I have had a real affinity for so far - I can't call it a relationship or a friendship, just more of a mutual respect - was Elvis. Yes, a big black rooster, our first. He may have been a Black Australorp or, more likely, a Jersey Giant, I don't know for sure. But he was a gentle giant. Even with his 4" spurs he never hurt the ladies. He was a bit awkward, clumsy and slow even, but he got the job done, and his gals were patient with him.

I didn't know, when I named him, that day I picked him out of the crowd and named him Elvis on the spot, how appropriate the name would be. At the time I was just struck by his iridescent, sexy, manly black plumage and posture. He just looked like an Elvis to me!

But within days I realized I couldn't have named him better. He was the crowingest roo in the valley! He crowed the sun up starting about two in the morning, according my dear MIL. He sang it across the sky all day long. He lulled it to bed at night, and he also crooned the moon up, down and all around. Elvis was in his glory, he seemed to announce, and all's well with the world!

We are blessed to have no near neighbors to complain, but folks as far as a couple of miles away knew of Elvis and his bugle calls. They chuckled about it. But one sad morning a couple of years after he joined our little chicken farm, I didn't hear his clarion call. I went out to check and found him lying peacefully in a corner of the run. He'd crowed his last. Elvis had lain down to rest from his works and would never get up n'more. Elvis, it seemed, our fair singer, had "left the building." Other roosters have come and gone since then, but there'll never be another as cool as he. Like his namesake, there 'll just never be... another Elvis. Rest in peace, old friend.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

I love that this thread has evolved into such a great place to share fond memories of our birds.

I’ve got to give a tribute to sweet JoJo. Poor thing wasn’t even supposed to make it- the hen setting on the duck eggs kept waiting until they hatched then eating the ducklings so we took all of the remaining three eggs and without an incubator had to go with a heat lamp and an improvised box-cubator. It worked, and they ended up hatching and making it for quite awhile- JoJo was the sweetest and most photogenic baby! Such a cuddle bug. Rest In Peace little one.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yes, thank you for this thread. The stories are great. Even though it is obvious there is sadness over the losses, you can still feel the joy everyone feels for having had these special birds in our lives, and it's a comfort to be able to share these pictures and memories.