I was shocked to open the coop on Saturday to find Madeleine Albright dead. She had obviously died in the night, as her body was stiff, and she was laying directly under rafter perch she liked.
It gives me comfort that she died with her flock, safe, maybe even sound asleep.
I'm not upset about her death though, even though I was fond of her. I'm not upset because I know that chicken had 6 months of life she might not have had on many farms. Her scissor beak that kept her from eating well most likely put stress on her system. A few days before, I did notice the other hens had definitely surpassed her in size, but she was eating, and drinking. But the beak issue must have been a detriment to her nutrition, and amount of calories she could consume. Even though I gave her as much feed as she wanted, nature took over.
I buried her in the hen yard, next to Zucchi and Henny Henny. I adorned her with a beautiful green ribbon, sprinkled lavender around her, and rested her on a bed of dried flowers. She lived free to roam and cluck and flap.
