We knew it would happen sooner or later, but didn't think it would happen so suddenly without warning. We found Paxo dead in the coop this afternoon, possibly from a heart attack or stroke. She wasn't ill, she seemed fine last night and very active and running around yesterday.
Well I say she was fine, but she's never been back to 100% since her illness a few months ago. She had her appetite again and was putting on weight, but she wasn't the gun-ho, beak-in-there girl we used to know. She was quieter and more reserved, sometimes she needed feeding separately from the rest if they pushed her out of the way, but she was on the mend definitely.
We buried her under the Photonia bush because that was her favourite spot. Come rain or shine, she had her little area under there she'd scratched out of the ground to nestle. Bisto has been inconsolable for most of the day, calling and hunting for Paxo round the garden. We found her several times in the conservatory hidden in a corner making comforting noises to herself and rocking backwards and forwards. Several times Oxo squashed in there and sat with her to keep her company, talking to her and trying to get her come out. When you see them like that, it hits home very quickly how they must suffer terribly in battery cages.
Poor Paxo. She sure was a good chicken.
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