MJ's little flock

[MaryJanet]

I'm so sorry She will be missed, but always remembered ❤

I'll remember her. And her stories are written in this thread any time I want to read them.

 

[MaryJanet]

Aww Janet. I’m so sorry MJ.

Thank you Lozzy. It was not unexpected but somehow still unexpected in the moment. I genuinely thought I'd see her alive beside Ivy when I lifted the lid of the little coop's nest box. But she wasn't there. I knew she wasn't elsewhere because I'd already looked. So I shifted my gaze a little and saw her a few steps away slumped against the inside wall of the little coop. Poor old darling.

Poor Ivy sat with for I don't know how long. I say Poor Ivy, but when I sat with Mum after she'd died, it was a very important experience and not at all traumatising.

 

[MaryJanet]

So exciting! I do endorse your suggestions for types to hatch.

I had a feeling you'd like their laced Polish chooks!

 

[MaryJanet]

What a wonderful image. A smiling house.

It's had a sad face for as long as I can remember, its broken columns made me think of broken teeth and its unpainted patch of render made me think it wasn't cared for. And it was foreboding too. Can't wait to let the light in.

 

[MaryJanet]

The builder and engineer were here yesterday, chatting things over. I haven't had an update, so I anticipate the pour going ahead on Friday as planned.

 

[Shadrach]

Janet has died.

She slept with Ivy last night and didn't get up for breakfast this morning, so I looked for her and she was snuggled up with Ivy. I put a couple of dried meal worms next to her. Later in the afternoon I thought it was strange I hadn't seen her so I looked and found her remains a few steps away from where she had been sitting.

Here she is shortly after moving in. It was day 1 or 2. Mary had not moved in yet and Jan was flying solo that week.

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Then her amigo moved in.

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A few months later a street urchin turned up.

Three Amigos.

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Around this time, she started feeling a little off.

Dr Mark wasn't able to pin it down on this occasion but she had an overnight stay, a fecal float, an exam. All for free.

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Some time later two little puddings joined in and gave Janet a reason to look upon everything with a sense of superiority.



Janet then had a swollen eye which I failed to notice until it was quite uncomfortable for her. She had her eye surgically flushed by Dr Mark and his team. Her eyelid had to be cut open for the procedure and glued together again.

Her eye infection marked the beginning of the end, with several week long treatments of antibiotics and followed by probiotics. We just couldn't crack it and each time her recuperation took longer and failed sooner.

Her last treatment resulted in her poops becoming tiny. That's when I thought no more antibiotics. Something wasn't right and I didn't want to put her through another treatment regimen with its long term recuperation for short term benefit.

Instead I focussed on giving her things she liked like corn and meal worms and cottage cheese rolled in pellets. And salmon and egg. I'm sure the shitty diet made her happy but sicker.

I was lucky to have had such a great hen in my life for so long. She was six. She died on 16/1/24.

An hour ago her friends starting singing for no reason. I like to think they were calling to her as she crossed the Rubicon.

She was a magnificent matriarch who will be much missed.

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Each time one dies I'm sure many of us think we just can't do this anymore. We do though because all those wonderfull moments that are a particlular gift from chickens outweighs these moments of sadness.

 

[MaryJanet]

Each time one dies I'm sure many of us think we just can't do this anymore. We do though because all those wonderfull moments that are a particlular gift from chickens outweighs these moments of sadness.

Yes. It's well worth any sadness. Chickens are very companionable birds.

I'll be a mess the day Mary says goodbye.

 

[BY Bob]

Ivy would have been kind and gentle company during her last hours.

Who better.

 

[BY Bob]

Thank you Lozzy. It was not unexpected but somehow still unexpected in the moment. I genuinely thought I'd see her alive beside Ivy when I lifted the lid of the little coop's nest box. But she wasn't there. I knew she wasn't elsewhere because I'd already looked. So I shifted my gaze a little and saw her a few steps away slumped against the inside wall of the little coop. Poor old darling.

Poor Ivy sat with for I don't know how long. I say Poor Ivy, but when I sat with Mum after she'd died, it was a very important experience and not at all traumatising.

That Ivy is a special soul.

 

[BY Bob]

I had a feeling you'd like their laced Polish chooks!

Marans

Orpingtons

I think that covers them all.