Bye Bye Bella - Friday 5th December 2014

Hi Friends,

This isn't the post I intended for today, but I have to say that this year has been a very bad year in the chicken coop; in all the years we have been keeping our little clutch of hens, we've never lost more than one in a year, this year we lost 2 and now I am sorry to say we have lost a third.

Bella and Cara were both in fine fettle on Wednesday - I was home and they were able to free range all day, they were fine when I put them back in the coop and also when  I checked on them and shut the coop door after dark. The only slightly odd thing was that Bella had moved to one of the empty nest boxes, but they do move around now and then..she looked fine. When I went to get them up yesterday before work, Bella had passed away. 

So it with sadness I write this post: Bella was our adventurer - fearless, she would get up in the grapevine, jump up on anything where she thought there might be food, never still. Apart from a little health scare over the summer, she has appeared super fit.

Bella was with us for three years and she and Cara were inseparable. Hens definitely pine, because Cara keeps looking for Bella and all she has done today is sit on the perch in their little covered area in the garden, only getting down when I go out to give her a treat. I really want to pick her up and give her a cuddle, but  Cara is a very independent hen who has never liked being picked  up..she doth protest when I do my regular checks.

Of course this means that tomorrow we will be forced to go and find her a new coop mate and then spend the next few weeks settling in a new girl...the spare coop will have to be made ready, it's very much not the time of year to be doing this.

So Bella will now be at Rainbow Bridge, hopefully foraging with her old mates Lacey and Penny, sleep peacefully Bel and thanks for the fun you gave us with your cheeky antics X

Thanks for stopping by,

Love and Hugs

Carole X

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