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| Mimique 8-9-2010 |
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| 9-14-2010 |
Sadly, when we returned to the B&F after our amazing vacation in Africa, we learned that Mimique had a paralyzed leg and was basically unable to move. Three days later, she was dead. We don't know what caused her death although she was found on the ground under the roost, next to a broken egg. Going on 3 years old, Mimique was laying larger and larger eggs and a google search revealed that sometimes a very large egg can cause paralysis. Maybe that was it.
We are very sad for our little amputee dominique. She was a pretty, gentle hen and the head chicken of the flock. We planted a memorial "Rosy Glow" barberry bush in our backyard and held a small burial ceremony for her. RIP
There are two silver linings to this otherwise unhappy story. First, Mimique was the first of our chickens to die of natural causes. Yay for us. Second, I now feel justified in buying some new chicks. Chipmunk is the same age as Mimique and although she could live for another year or two (or more), we will want to make sure that we have enough laying hens to keep us in eggs for our guests. So we have three day-old chicks arriving on Aug. 19 - rare breeds, and hopefully including a Jersey giant and another dominique.
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| Head of the flock |
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| Laying an egg |
