Both Mrs Floppy Head and Norma have passed away over the last 48 hours.
Norma was an ex battery hen and just went to sleep in her coop and didnt wake up. This is fairly common with ex batteries - they dont live for long and often have heart attacks and just die very suddenly overnight. I have no idea how old she was - she came from an auction, but I am glad that she had a nice summer in my garden, feeling the sun on her back and having the freedom to roam around. Something battery hens rarely get to experience after their 'service' is over.
Mrs Floppy Head however is a very different matter. She was never quite right from the moment I got her and for the last 5 weeks has been on antibiotics for respiratory problems. She was very much up and down; some days refusing to eat and sitting in the corner of the garden away from the other birds, and other days happily scratching around. Yesterday was one of these days - when I left for work she was eating a handful of corn and making happy cooing noises at me, but when I returned home she was sodden and rocking back and forth, unable to stand properly.
I brought Mrs Floppy Head into the house and put her in front of the fire to dry off, but sadly she was evident that she would not recover. Over the course of the evening she passed away, quietly and peacefully; just closing her eyes and going to sleep, in a nice comfy box of straw, in front of the fire.
I had kept the breeder informed of Mrs Floppy Head's illness from the start and they had offered to take her back and swap her for me, but I wanted to give her the best chance of recovery with medication and for a while it seemed to be working. I am sad that I wasnt able to save her ðŸ˜
