Petunia Racing to Catch Poppy Now

Photo copyright Aji, 2021; all rights reserved.

It's been an incredibly difficult week. I was prepared for dealing with all the pain and fatigue attendant on season, weather, pollen, and vaccine effects; not happy, but expecting it.

I was not prepared to walk out to the chicken coop to find another of our chickens gone. 

It was Petunia this time, like Poppy, one of the three Australorp "flower girls." [These three were clutch-mates and were nearly identical triplets, with low pink combs and pinkish faces, and they were all named for "black" blossoms (which, yes, I know, I know, they're actually purple, but colloquially they're called black): Poppy, Petunia, and Peony. Peony is the only one of the three remaining now, fierce and combative as ever.] She's one of the black chickens in the photo above; if I'm not mistaken, she's the left-most of the two 'lorps to the right of the picnic table and in front of the hay barn, the one facing the camera. 

And, like Poppy, it appears to have been another case of simple heart failure, having quite literally keeled over in the night inside the enclosed space of the inner coop. I doubt she had time to feel anything more than a moment's surprise; her eyes were open, but I suspect that her heart was failing her as she slept, and she had one moment of consciousness, not enough to be afraid or indeed to have any idea what was happening, before it was done. As I said with Poppy, it appears that Australorps are somewhat prone to this problem, and as usual, there were absolutely no signs. She's been running around all week, happy, engaged, delighted to be out in the warmer weather and scratching up a storm.

Where Poppy was a bit of a loner, Petunia was fairly thoroughly bonded to her sister, Peony. But where Peony is a bit of a bully (okay, more than a bit), the other two girls were a little skittish. Petunia was one of those girls who was just happy to be able to do what she liked, run around and scratch in the dirt and find bugs and burrow in for a dust bath. She gave us four years' worth of beautiful brown eggs, medium-sized and perfectly smooth, and all in all, she was just a sweet, shy girl, one whose name suited her.

So already this morning, we've laid her to rest with everything she'll need for her journey. Her body is resting next to Spice's, with Poppy's on Spice's opposite side. But I can see Petunia racing to catch Poppy now: running for all she's worth like a little old lady with her layers of petticoats and skirts hitched up, flapping and squawking all the way. And by now, she's probably already finally learned to take flight.

We love you, Petunia. You'll be flying with your girls in no time.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.