RIP No Named Hen

Sadly, we lost a hen....one of the Buff Orpingtons. On Monday, Farmer J was out doing his chicken chores and noticed a hen, roosting in the rafters of the chicken coop, while all the other chickens were out enjoying their freedom. Upon further look, he could see the chicken was not moving. She died peacefully with her head still nuzzled under her wing.

I came home to find the hen "lying in state" (as Farmer J put it) on the back kitchen porch step. She was laid out beautifully, with lovely branches framing her motionless body. J opened the back door so I could see her better; after a long day of work, I felt the view from the window was perfectly respectful.

Death is not uncommon when you live on a farm. So far, we have lost at least one hen to a raccoon, two simply went missing (never to be found) and the most recent death of our Buff. And, of course, the "harvesting" of the roosters. The boys knew that the roosters were "meat birds" and have known that we have "lost" birds but this was the first dead bird they have seen (we left the farm for the "harvest"). JJ was not affected. Pickle (the youngest one) was deeply affected. He was most upset about seeing the bird's "frozen eyes".

Since the bird passed on, Pick Pick has been asking many questions about death, dying and afterlife. One gift (of the many) of living on a farm is learning at a young age that death is a fact of life and that it is o.k. to talk about death and dying and ask questions about 'what happens when you die'. I assure you, I am no expert on answering the tough questions that my two little boys have been asking me over the past few days but I tried to keep my answers simple, kind, loving, and honest.

When I was little, I heard a church pastor say that animals don't go to heaven because animals do not have souls. I respect his beliefs... but in my heaven, there are chickens (but they don't poop!)