Not a high spot of my chicken tending career. I usually check the chickens on the camera before bed. I apparently did not last night. Cloud did not make it back into the coop. She missed getting in the coop before the door closed, then chose to settle on the food bin (metal and stone) about 6pm and passed away when the temperatures were around 32 degrees in the wee hours of the morning. I found her when I did my morning check, and then I checked the camera footage. I don’t know why she chose the feed bin step to huddle, maybe something else was going on and it wouldn’t have mattered if she were inside or out. But if I had looked at the camera at my usual time, or she had chosen a roost on the side of the coop where the wind wasn’t so intense, the outcome might have been different. Darn it. Cameras are definitely a mixed blessing in this situation. Good that I can check without going out, bad that I can review footage on something that was preventable.

The other 8 hens are doing fine. I have one that wobbles, but has now for months with no other ill effects, and I’m not sure how Magic keeps hanging on, but she does. The other six look hale. They are over three years old, which is old for a production chicken (because they cull them when egg production slows), but still young for Faverolles that typically live 5-7 years (and mine are hatchery quality, so have questionable breeding). I started with 12, lost one to pendulous crop or sour crop, one was egg bound, and one to an inhaled wheat seed. They teeter the edge between livestock and pets.

If you made it this far in the post, thank you. Writing this was more a catharsis for me in reaction to an accidental death of an animal in my care than my usual critter or craft posts.