RIP, My Little Precious

I didn't want to write this post.  

Last Friday morning, when I went to say good morning to the ladies, I was confronted by a tragic sight.  One of our Preciouses was lying dead in the corner.  No blood, no mess of feathers.  Just slightly contorted and extremely dead.

But, even more tragically, it was not just any Precious that I found dead.  It was the Precious that I had nursed  for weeks through a broken wing.  It was the Precious that I had gently bandaged and that I fed special treats as she rested safely in our little chicken infirmary. 

Precious in the infirmary

This Precious was the runt.  She was not only smaller, but she was also way less developed than the other Australorps.  After a few weeks in the infirmary, she seemed much improved.  She even began using her broken wing again, flying out of the coop in the morning.  But she never made what seemed to be a full recovery.  Although she had never lost her appetite after her injury and during recovery, and the others never kept her away from meals or treats afterwards, Precious continued to struggle.  She never made it back up on the roost and spent her nights huddled up in the corner.  Poor thing.

I feel bad about this, but had we lost any other Australorp, I don't think I'd feel as extremely sad as I do now.  I can tell all of the Wyandottes and Ameraucanas apart, and I am very attached to each and every one of them.  I could also pick Precious the Runt out of the crowd, so I'm really upset about the whole thing. 

I read somewhere that chickens try to hide any sickness or weakness at all costs.  They don't want to appear weak to predators or to their peers.  So, who knows how much she was really suffering all along?

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Chapters One-Eleven, has now become Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Chapters One-Ten, and our original group of nineteen is now down to seventeen.  But, one thing has remained the same: we still have no eggs!