Earlier this week, I noticed my hen, Moxi, starting to slow down. Being an old hen, it didn’t come as a surprise to see her start wandering less, and stay closer to home. She was healthy in all aspects, but her time had come, and death was unavoidable.
This little bird, the same one that has been in my avatar since I joined BYC, had quite an exciting life. She hatched with a top breeder, where she traveled to and did amazing at many shows. As she aged, I happened upon this breeder, and she was one of the birds he so graciously sold me to start my breeding projects. So she traveled to her final home, where she went to a few more small town shows, and amazed so many strangers who thought she was a dinosaur. She got into some trouble too. One day she disappeared. Now just imagine. I was distraught that my little hen was gone, and only a few months after I brought her home, so this was my first chicken death/disappearance experience. I must of looked Insane to any passerby’s, running around my yard screaming “Here chicky, CHICK CHICK CHICK” like a mad woman. Turns out she was ok, I figured out She made her nest under my porch, and went to sit. Where I couldn’t get to her. And we all know moderns aren’t the best mothers. And she was no different. I made sure there were no holes in the covers for the next time she went to sit. But she was stubborn. So she made her way to the interior siding of the garage, (the underside of the gutter, inside the garage though, I’m not sure what would this be called other than a hot oven in the summer for eggs that were laid earlier that year
), and she made her nest there. In the summer, when it was cooking temps. So I stacked up a few buckets, a box, and a tub all on top of the lien mower in order to reach her over the nailing. Only for her to escape her pen when feeding and fly back up there. That’s when the broom came in handy. For some reason, none of the birds like the little hand held kitchen broom. They must of thought the harmless stick that kept their home sanitary would attack them if they came too close. So they’d all take off screaming every time it came within eyesight. So all I had to do was stick the bristles up over the edge of the little dip, so she could see it, and she never went back up there.
Moxi wasn’t someone to mess with either. She was top hen, despite being one of the smallest. She made friends with only two other hens, who were both a LOT bigger then her in modern terms. Apparently she was smart too. She always kept the bigger hens on her good side.
Moxi only had one chick hatch over the time I had her. The only one to ever hatch. And While Moxi might of been a smart little bird, her child inherited NONE of her smarts. Or good genes for shows. So she’s is now nothing but a free loader who stays because I think her stupidity is hiliarious. Seriously. She got ‘stuck’ under the grill...Thankfully I got a picture of this occurrence. She sadly passed earlier this year. So I have no living babies from Moxi. Squirt is her niece, but there are no more direct children carrying her on her legacy in my possession.
Moxi was my sweet, little, smart, aggravating, precious little modern baby. I will miss her greatly, and I know she will be missed by the other birds, in one way or another.
RIP Moxi.
This little bird, the same one that has been in my avatar since I joined BYC, had quite an exciting life. She hatched with a top breeder, where she traveled to and did amazing at many shows. As she aged, I happened upon this breeder, and she was one of the birds he so graciously sold me to start my breeding projects. So she traveled to her final home, where she went to a few more small town shows, and amazed so many strangers who thought she was a dinosaur. She got into some trouble too. One day she disappeared. Now just imagine. I was distraught that my little hen was gone, and only a few months after I brought her home, so this was my first chicken death/disappearance experience. I must of looked Insane to any passerby’s, running around my yard screaming “Here chicky, CHICK CHICK CHICK” like a mad woman. Turns out she was ok, I figured out She made her nest under my porch, and went to sit. Where I couldn’t get to her. And we all know moderns aren’t the best mothers. And she was no different. I made sure there were no holes in the covers for the next time she went to sit. But she was stubborn. So she made her way to the interior siding of the garage, (the underside of the gutter, inside the garage though, I’m not sure what would this be called other than a hot oven in the summer for eggs that were laid earlier that year
), and she made her nest there. In the summer, when it was cooking temps. So I stacked up a few buckets, a box, and a tub all on top of the lien mower in order to reach her over the nailing. Only for her to escape her pen when feeding and fly back up there. That’s when the broom came in handy. For some reason, none of the birds like the little hand held kitchen broom. They must of thought the harmless stick that kept their home sanitary would attack them if they came too close. So they’d all take off screaming every time it came within eyesight. So all I had to do was stick the bristles up over the edge of the little dip, so she could see it, and she never went back up there.Moxi wasn’t someone to mess with either. She was top hen, despite being one of the smallest. She made friends with only two other hens, who were both a LOT bigger then her in modern terms. Apparently she was smart too. She always kept the bigger hens on her good side.
Moxi only had one chick hatch over the time I had her. The only one to ever hatch. And While Moxi might of been a smart little bird, her child inherited NONE of her smarts. Or good genes for shows. So she’s is now nothing but a free loader who stays because I think her stupidity is hiliarious. Seriously. She got ‘stuck’ under the grill...Thankfully I got a picture of this occurrence. She sadly passed earlier this year. So I have no living babies from Moxi. Squirt is her niece, but there are no more direct children carrying her on her legacy in my possession.
Moxi was my sweet, little, smart, aggravating, precious little modern baby. I will miss her greatly, and I know she will be missed by the other birds, in one way or another.
RIP Moxi.
