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Sunday, February 8, 2015

Sadie


I'm in mourning.  My favorite hen, Sadie, disappeared recently without a trace.  Not a single feather remained to give me a clue what might have happened.  We've never lost a hen to a hawk and I've not seen a big hawk around our place for years.  The chickens now stay within the fenced garden so that pretty well keeps large predators out.  Why, out of all my 69 hens, was Sadie the one to go?

It may seem silly to be attached to a chicken, but Sadie was special.  I could pick her voice out of the flock immediately.  She was very smart and friendly.  When I check for eggs in the coop, some of the hens puff up and squawk at me or even peck.  Sadie would bob her head, cluck softly and stand up so I could check underneath her.  In the yard I would squat down and hold out a worm and call "Sadieee" and she would come running just as fast as her short little legs would go.  I will sorely miss her.  It's hard not knowing what happened.  She was 4 years old and could have lived a lot longer, but at least I had the pleasure of her company for those years, and the satisfaction of knowing she had a good life here.