This is my last chicken memorial post, and the hardest to write. Bessie Chicken was special. Bessie came to us way back in February 2019, less than a year after we moved here, and only five months after we started keeping chickens. She'd arrived with two others, Rusty and Beaky, and all three had spent the first 18 months of their lives in cages. I wrote about them when they first arrived here. We put Bessie on the ground when she first arrived, and it seemed she couldn't quite believe it. It took all of thirty seconds before she started pecking and scratching the ground, trying to flick the earth into her feathers, her first ever dust bath. Bessie was pretty lively from the start, picking fights with our older chickens, Mildred and Maud. But she was affectionate, and was the first to jump up onto Peter's knee, and that remained her favourite spot. Young Bessie was curious and eager to explore, but she was always fond of a nice comfy sit down, and always appreciated a blanket or a cushion. After we'd had her about 18 months, Bessie got ill. Our local vet didn't know what to do, and in desperation we found a specialist chicken vet, quite a distance away, and they brought her back from death's door. She ended up with a hormonal implant to stop her laying (which was causing her all kinds of problems). She had several implants over her life, and quickly became our most expensive chicken, although we didn't begrudge her one bit. She even had a home visit from the vet, when they got caught in an avian flu restriction zone so we couldn't travel in. Bessie, Beaky and Rusty were a happy bunch, and I'll always remember how much time they spent hanging out under the swing seat together, lying in the dappled shade on a pile of hay. We lost Beaky in July 2021, and then Rusty in November of the same year. Such a sad time. Bessie and Rusty had a special bond, and Bessie even had a special little noise she made sometimes when Rusty came to sit on a knee with her. Bessie lived to be almost six years old, and it almost seemed like we'd have her forever. Several others who arrived after her died before her, but eventually, her time came too. So that's the end of chicken keeping for us. I don't think either of us will forget Bessie as long as we live. Well, we won't forget any of them, but Bessie was with us for four and a half years, and she was so special.
She lived for another 18 months after we lost Rusty, and she never made that little noise again. I like to think of them reunited now, along with all their other beaky pals, in the Great Dust Bath in the Sky.
3 Comments
Mum
19/6/2023 05:39:20 pm
What a lovely tribute to Bessie. Your chicken ladies really have lived their best lives at your place. 😊x
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Auntie Lou
19/6/2023 09:25:30 pm
What lovely words for a beloved chicken lady. How lucky were your ladies to have found such a loving home with you and Pete? Take care both xx
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TDQKaren
20/6/2023 10:44:01 am
Beautiful tribute
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Hello!Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'm Jenni, and I write here about our new foray into country living, which includes growing food, knitting, baking, wandering around the fields, and seeing which local cafe serves the best cake. Categories
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