Rest in Peace Girls

[rebecca10782]

Last week there was a fire in the coop due to faulty electricity. It was nine in the morning and all the girls were still locked in and they all burned to death. It was the worst thing I have ever seen. None of them had a chance. There were two of them huddled together on the ground with there heads together. They had given up and sought comfort from each other. There were four mama's sitting on eggs and two newly hatched chicks. I posted in the emergency section of the forum to warn people that this can happen. Apparently, you need a specific type of extension cord for certain things. The fire dept was not very specific about what happened but I want to warn people so that you can check and be sure that all your electricity is safely set up.

They were all my babies. I raised them from day one and was bonded to each of them. Every time we went to the backyard and opened the gate, they would all escape and go running full speed down the driveway to the front yard to eat the fresh grass and bugs

It was the funniest and most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. I didn't know that chickens could run that fast! You could hear all their giant feet along the ground. I called it a chicken stampede. They would flap their wings as hard as they could and fly a few feet up in the air. They were very lucky chickens to be able to live as God intended. They got three plates of oatmeal a day and lots of other tasty treats. Every time I attempted to eat in their presence, I didn't get much. They were just too cute with all their little chicken eyes staring up at me, I just had to feed them

Penelope

Most people told me to kill her when I asked for advice when I realized that she had a crossed beak. She never ever had a problem with it. She was always fat and happy

She learned how to pick up food by herself. There were a few things she could not eat like grapes, so I would peel them and mush them up for her. I think she appreciated that

Penelope had been sitting on her nest for awhile trying to hatch out some babies. All the girls would climb in and lay an egg on top of her and she would tuck them under her belly and settle back down on them

Here is a picture of her on her nest. She is glaring at me. Every time I came up to her, she would puff up and growl like a good mama

She was very sweet though, she always let me collect the eggs.

Pesca

Pesca means "peach" in Italian

She laid us a beautifully speckled dark brown egg every day.


Here she is munching on a flower and grazing in the grass.

Sable

and her glamour shot

Tessa

Rosemary

happily scratching in the dirt

Buttercup

She was the pic of the week a few weeks ago.

Tinkerbell

Sadie

Olivia

Olivia stole Sadie's nest, so Sadie came back and just smushed in next to her. For the next few weeks, they sat in that nest together happy as clams

I put a dozen Serama eggs under them. They were about a week from hatching.







Violet

Violet had two new babies in the nest with her. Here are a few pictures of them. They weren't named yet.

Baby #1

Baby #2

Josephine

a baby picture

Josephine was definitely unique. She was the feistiest of the bunch. She had the weirdest sounding squawk. We laughed non-stop everytime we would feed them a tasty treat because she would be the first on top of your feet yelling at the top of her lungs. It sounded nothing I have ever heard before. Definitely the most unpleasant sound I have heard out of a bird

She wasn't very ladylike

But we loved her.











Sienna

Sienna was always the first on top of the shovel when we went to dig holes. All the other girls would stand by and wait, but she didn't seem to be able to figure out that we could not dig a hole to get to the worms with her standing right on top of it

We would lift her up on the shovel and deposit her a few feet away, but she was always be right back there a few seconds later. I don't know how she had any toes

Sicilia

She was the first to lay

Stella

We weren't sure what breed she was until she lay a beautiful mint green egg.

Their beautiful eggs

Sicilia, Josephine and Sienna

 

[chickenbottom]

this actually made me cry im so sorry they were beautiful may there spirits live forever there

 

[froggie71]

How terrible! Your girls were beautiful. So sorry for your loss.

 

[rebecca10782]

Thank you. People have asked my mom why she finds chickens so interesting. They are just chickens. She tells them that her chickens have more interesting personalities than most of the people that she knows

I know animals have souls. When I was looking at them all huddled up together, I just could not accept that they died and know they are gone. With a person or an animal, I just can't see how the spirit that made them what they were, dissapears into nothing.

 

[Schultz]

I just saw this thread and I am so sorry for your loss. I remember seeing your pics before and your chickens were as beautiful as your photos. I hope you find yourself with a new chicken family soon

 

[rebecca10782]

Thank you. We did get a chicken from the pound a few days after to keep our rooster company. Luckily Little Jerry was in the house when this happened. We keep him inside at night for the neighbors sake. The day it happened, he was walking around calling his girls after he found a goody in the garden. I started crying when I heard him. So for now, it is just them. They seem to be happy. He offers her food

and they take dust baths together.

 

[jjthink]

Utterly heartbreaking.
I haven't the words for how awful I feel for what the girls went through and how ticked I am at a universe that is so cruel to innocents. They should not have had that terror and pain

I am so sorry.
JJ
(and p.s. I agree with your mom about their interesting personalities. They are a joy to watch - it is hard to break away to get work done. If humans go on after this life, then I know all other feeling beings do as well - there is nothing so special about us humans that would or should afford us special treatment!)

 

[thomi]

We are so sorry to hear of your loss. I can't even begin to imagine how you feel and our hearts go out to you.

Thom and Donna

 

[nwgirl]

My heart goes out to you and your family.

 

[rebecca10782]

Thank you. I still keep seeing it happen in my mind. My mom tells me to at least be greatful that our chickens lived unlike most chickens on this earth. They had a short but wonderful life. When we rebuild, we are getting proffesional electricity installed. We are never going to use extention cords for things like that again.