In the grand scheme, a single chicken has very little significance but after almost a year of seeing her everyday, enjoying her eggs, having her follow me as I worked on various projects, I am feeling a loss. We have 11 other hens and I do not know any of them individually but each is important to my day. My daily chores typically start with letting the Delaware hens out to free range, checking their water, then taking water, feed, and grit to the Rhodies, taking feed and grit to the Delaware house, and gathering their early eggs. Upon opening the Delaware door I immediately saw the body of one hen. After removing her I had to continue the chores to completion. Knowing why a hen expires can help prevent other occurrences so we tried to figure out what had happened. Looks like she had a prolapse from her vent so we photographed it and sent the photo to a vet. Once we have her opinion we can decide if we need to take any action.
Disposing of the carcass seemed so wasteful and a sad part of homesteading. The joys here are made sweeter by these sad moments, a lesson learned and relearned. Life will go on with no recognition that one of the dozen is now gone but every time I count to ensure all have come in to roost for the night I will remember.
