Yesterday afternoon Ryan went out to the chicken coop to let our chickens out and to collect the eggs. All the chickens came running out into the wide open backyard, except for one. Pepper. Our favorite chicken of all.
"Pep-A", as David called her, is the black and white one in the middle.
She was laying in the floor of the coop, barely breathing, covered in various types of bugs. She was clearly not well and we knew what that meant. It was incredibly sad. We've had several other chickens in the past, but none like sweet Pepper.
She was our baby before we had our babies. You see, about a month after we brought her [and her sister, Salt] home she developed Merrick's disease- a debilitating, usually life threatening illness in chickens. Ryan and I nursed her back to health giving her medicine with a eye dropper, keeping her in our laundry room [in Bogie's kennel], changing her bedding daily, and even taking her with us for weekend trips to the lake so we could care for her.
She eventually made a complete recovery and was a great laying hen for us.
As a result of our one-on-one time with her, Pepper became very comfortable and friendly with us. She knew she could trust us and that more times than not we had some kind of a treat for her and the other chickens [usually old bread, spoiled fruits & veggies, shredded cheese, or their favorite- a chicken bone, yes a chicken bone.] She often ended up eating most of the treats because the other chickens were too afraid of us. She almost always let Ryan pick her up and she was best friends with Annie, the goat. We had often talked about what a great Mama she would make because of her gentle, sweet spirit.
So, yesterday we buried our Pepper Chicken in the backyard next to the others we have lost. It may sound strange to some, but our pets are part of our family too. She was special to us and we will miss her.
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