“A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal.” Proverbs 12:10
This past week i went out to gather eggs from the coop and sadly found our dear silver laced Wyandotte, Henriella had passed. It seemed as if she didn’t suffer. She was lying not far from the coop and had laid an egg that day. She was older and unfortunately I know this is a part of life- especially farm life. Although I don’t think we will ever lose an animal here where some tears won’t be shed for them I find comfort in knowing they lived a happy life here with us.
I remember my first little flock of 3 hens. They were lavender orpingtons, just the type of hens I feel like you would find happily pecking along an english countryside in the background of a Jane Austen novel. We lost Genevieve first. At the first sign of sickness we took her to the vet straight away and I can’t tell you how many hours I researched everything I could about chicken health. I had done everything right: I kept their coop spotless, I gave them fresh herbs and supplements, I checked them over daily for any issues. But sometimes there’s not anything you’ve done or can do to make it better. We’ve learned there’s so much that can go wrong with chickens and sometimes they pull through (we spoon fed our hen, Avonlea for a month!) and sometimes they just don’t. I’ve learned that the best thing I can do is to keep caring for our hens. Make sure they have a happy and healthy environment and keep learning more of what I can do to help with sickness when it does happen.
Henriella was a wonderful addition to our flock that was given to us by my sister in law a few years ago. She was friendly and easy going. She was one of our best layers and I’m glad we could give her a home where she was happy and healthy. We’ll miss this girl and her “look at me” poses and the fabulous brown eggs she gave us.
We strongly believe that every creature has been lovingly created and we want to take the best care of them that we can. Everyone and everything deserves kindness.
So sorry unfortunately it is a part of life.