Early last spring we noticed that the dominant birds in our flock of chickens were pecking at this black and white bird. Chickens are not kind to the infirm members of the group and have been known to peck them to the death. So we separated her from the flock, expecting that whatever her ailment, she would soon die peacefully in the duck pen.We noticed that she did not run away like the others when we approached and we could pick her up easily, so she became something of a pet. When she was still very much alive a month or so later, we named her Babette and often picked her up for a friendly pet. She disappeared once or twice overnight, only to reappear the next day under one of the juniper trees. She was there when Violet brought the baby ducks back to the pen, and while she showed some interest in these new creatures, she was not averse to sharing her home with them.
The last few days, we noticed that she was not venturing out from the straw house that served as her roost. This evening I found her body in the corner. She's certainly not the first chicken to die from our flock, but she had become a favorite.
Bye-bye, Babette
3 comments:
Babette, we hardly knew ye.
I came looking for pictures of the new pot, and got lots of good reading. You'd been in a lull for a little while and didn't see all this. What a delightful cornucopia of wildlife you have!
Sometimes delightful and sometimes a pain in the a**.
The new pot won't be available for it's photo shoot until Thursday, so do come back Friday.
Ahhhh, the animals tales -- and tails -- NancyTurtle can tell!
We remember when you named Babette. Our thoughts are with you all.
Bye-Bye Babette!
Seven daze and counting!
-dp
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