Back in 2012 my life was changed when a stray chicken wandered into my yard. That was the beginning of my chicken mama lifestyle. Throughout the years I have had multiple chickens and I loved all of them. They became a part of my family.
For some time now I was down to having only two chickens. Since our life was a bit in flux, we did not get anymore. Then the sad thing happened that we lost our little Special K to illness. She was a Rosecomb bantam.
I originally named her Katana, but my husband ended up calling her Special K and that’s the name that stuck. She was a sweet chicken. Unfortunately, the last several months she had started laying just the inside of an egg. She seemed totally fine except for that. She would even still go broody.
When it seemed that she started going downhill, we tried some different treatments and she really didn’t seem so bad. She still ate and seemed to have life in her, but the day she passed she didn’t come out of the coop in the morning and she was close to death. I do miss our little Special K. She was a bundle of energy and just such a little cutie.
With the loss of our Special K, that left our Andalusian Andie on her own. Our first priority was to make sure that she wasn’t sick. She seemed fine except that she wasn’t laying, but I know sometimes that was just a cyclical thing. We were left with two choices with her. We could get more chickens or rehome her.
Things are a little unsettled with us so we decided it best to re-home her. My husband had a co-worker interested in taking her. It was a really hard thing to do for me. It too has been a big loss and I find myself quite emotional and feeling a bit empty. She was the big chicken of the flock. Especially when we first brought her home, she reminded me of an awkward teenager. Her big floppy comb reminded me of a hat.
I never thought I would actually re-home a chicken, but I hear she is doing well and a rooster has taken a liking to her. I miss my chickens and just feel like a big part of me is missing. Chances are I will in the future be a chicken mama again, but it doesn’t change the feelings of the here and now. I have loved my time as a chicken mama and loved all my girls with their different personalities. They are the reason I started blogging and started my Faithful Homesteader Facebook page where I have met so many wonderful people throughout the years.
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