Peanut Passed Away

[DaisyBuff]

Hi everybody, DaisyBuff Here. I am back to BYC with some sad news. My Rhode Island Red Hen Peanut has passed away......She was #1 in the pecking order, my top lead hen. Here is her story. First of all she did not pass on natural causes, she was killed. She was killed by a cat. Not my cat, she is used to being around chickens, but a wild cat. My chickens were free ranging, happy, pecking the ground, scratching in the dirt, I was sitting on my back porch swing looking at some chicken care videos on YouTube on my phone, Then I saw it. A Grey cat went charging at my chickens. Peanut Bravely got in front of the other chickens, protecting them, ready to fight that nasty cat off, I knew what was coming, so I threw my sandal at that cat, unsuccessfully I missed. Peanut was attacking that cat at her strongest to protect her flock, after unsuccessfully throwing both of my shoes to scare that cat away with bare feet I ran to the fight to break it up. I did not care if that cat scratched up my entire body, peanuts life was worth it. I ran the cat off, but poor peanut's body dropped to the ground, assuming she was dead, I gently scooped her seemingly lifeless body off the ground but, she slowly lifted her head. I idmeadaly ran her to my house to try to revive her, I inspected her, but her injurys were just too severe. There was no way she would survive. About 20 minutes later she was totally lifeless. I did spend the last minutes of her life with her anyway. She is buried beside a flower garden with all my other chicken graves. The cat attack fight all happened this morning around 10:00 That was how she passed, but let me tell you about her personality. Why is her name peanut you ask? Well when I went to the feed store to pick up my little RIR Chicks, about a little over a year ago I peeked inside the box to look at my chickens, I noticed that one of the chicks was very tiny. The very smallest in fact. I named her little peanut! But, she did not stay small at all! When my flock turned into productive adult hens, peanut was the biggest hen of all! Top of the pecking order! I still called her peanut though. I was just so used to the name. The cat fight was not the only fight peanut fought, but would you believe she actually protected her flock from a dog? Crazy right? She mainly just saw the dog approaching and started charging at it. She ran the dog away ( good thing that was a very scardy dog! ) She saved her entire flocks life! This afternoon was one of the very few times I got to hold her, because peanut would never let me catch her. She had the heart of a wild bird. She had no intention of being tamed, I tried, she just had an untamed, free spirited, wild heart. She also could not stand being confined. She was born to be wild and free, she just had that kind of personality! To my peanut, I hope you are having a amazing time in chicken heaven! You saved your flocks life. If it wasn't for you, your flock would be goners, I hope you have endless fields to run in, and have all the meal worm you want up there my sweet free spirited girl! That was her story.

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

I’m very sorry for your loss. Peanut sounded like a lovely, quite brave hen.

 

[ChickenWhisperer101]

I’m so sorry!

 

[DaisyBuff]

I’m very sorry for your loss. Peanut sounded like a lovely, quite brave hen.

Thank you for caring! She was a brave girl indeed!

 

[Alyssa-Bee]

I'm so sorry! Peanut was one brave girl.

 

[DaisyBuff]

I’m so sorry!

Im still sad of the loss, but now I will hang with my other 3 hens to help me get over it!

 

[Greystone farm]

This is such a moving story. Peanut sounds like such a wonderful, brave girl
I hope wherever she is now, she’s happy as can be!
I have Rhode Island’s too. One of mine was attacked last year and her esophagus was torn open. I was heartbroken and so scared for her…being the crazy chicken mom I am, I rushed her to a vet and she was put into a life saving surgery. Those few hours where I didn’t know if my girl was going to make it (my hens are close family pets) were horrible. I can’t imagine what losing peanut must be like!
Anyways. That hen is now happily living with her sisters, healthy as can be! She’s so tough she actually layed an egg right after getting out of surgery lol. Brave peanut reminds me of my hen a little.
Best of luck with the rest of your flock!

 

[DaisyBuff]

Thank you so much for caring!

I'm so sorry! Peanut was one brave girl.

 

[DaisyBuff]

This is such a moving story. Peanut sounds like such a wonderful, brave girl
I hope wherever she is now, she’s happy as can be!
I have Rhode Island’s too. One of mine was attacked last year and her esophagus was torn open. I was heartbroken and so scared for her…being the crazy chicken mom I am, I rushed her to a vet and she was put into a life saving surgery. Those few hours where I didn’t know if my girl was going to make it (my hens are close family pets) were horrible. I can’t imagine what losing peanut must be like!
Anyways. That hen is now happily living with her sisters, healthy as can be! She’s so tough she actually layed an egg right after getting out of surgery lol. Brave peanut reminds me of my hen a little.
Best of luck with the rest of your flock!

Thank you so much! I'm so happy your hen is doing well! It makes me take my mind off the sadness!

 

[Sequel]

I’m so sorry! What a wonderful hen!