US9 rooster memorial

The US9 rooster has been a mainstay at our facility for many years and he has welcomed each of our employees as they arrive at work on a daily basis.

If you arrived early enough, you would hear him crowing to the new day.

Everyone loved the rooster and we will miss him being at the gate each morning to greet us.

Sometimes the very basic simple things in life teach us so much.

Olive the lovable Silkie

by Kaitlyn
(Alexandria, KY)

Olive was a special girl. She was my first ever hen that I raised from a day old chick.

She was a beautiful black Silkie with a spunky personality. She was sweet and was the only hen I ever had who genuinely liked to be held.

I had her for 5 years and she died suddenly from no discernible cause while I was on vacation.

I am sad I was not there for her in her final hours. Goodbye to my sweet Olive.

Bye-bye, Baby

by Lenore
(Ontario )

Baby is the first chicken I’ve ever had pass away, and I’m grateful to have this place to talk about her. I’ve only been keeping a small flock since I started last spring, and I got Baby early this spring to add her to the family.

She was a little barnyard mix, with no tail feathers and the fluffiest cheeks. She loved to fly between the perches in the run, and cuddle with her sister Stevie. She always wanted to sit on your shoulder or be cuddled until she fell asleep (once you caught her of course, and catching her was always the tricky part. She was a fast little girl.)

We’re not sure how she died, only that my mom went out to check on her in the morning and she was in a bad way, and then passed within 5 min of me getting back to the house to hold her. I’d like to think she waited for me.

I’ve cared for chickens through injuries and more, but there was just nothing I could do. It was so sudden it still doesn’t quite feel real.

I hope she knows how much I loved her, and that I could hold her one more time.

Baby, the cuddliest little pullet.

by Lenore
(Canada )

Baby is the first chicken I’ve ever had pass away. I always knew this was coming when I chose to raise chickens, but I don’t think I was ever going to be ready for one to die, especially unexpectedly.

I’ve only been keeping a small flock since I started last spring, and I got Baby early this spring to add her to the family.

She was a little barnyard mix, gifted to me by a family friend, with no tail feathers and the fluffiest cheeks I’d ever seen. She was extremely skittish at first, but I worked every day to earn her trust.

She loved to fly between the perches in the run, and cuddle with her sister StevHen. She loved Stevie so much and would cry if we took Stevie out of the coop and not her too.

She always wanted to sit on your shoulder or be cuddled until she fell asleep (once you caught her of course, and catching her was always the tricky part. She was a fast little girl.)

We’re not sure how she died, only that my mom went out to check on her in the morning and she was in a bad way. We believe she may have had trouble laying her first egg.

I was away from the house and house-sitting for a friend, but I rushed back to the house as soon as my mom called, and she passed within 5 min of me getting back to the house to hold her. I’d like to think she waited for me. I hope I made her passing easier.

I’ve cared for chickens through injuries and have always known death is an inevitability, but there was just nothing I could do. It was so sudden it still doesn’t quite feel real.

I hope she knows how much I loved her, and that I could hold her one more time.

Sunflower, the flower who never got to bloom. 🌻💔

by Miley S.
(Florida)

My sweet hen was hatched from an egg, and I got to watch her grow.

She died a day shy of turning two months old. I knew she was having trouble breathing the day before, so we ordered VetRX in the mail. It still hasn’t come, and she passed away yesterday.

She was so beautiful and special, and her siblings were so sad when we had to take her lifeless body out of the coop.

Rest In Peace, Sunflower. Today you would’ve been two months old. 💔🐔😞

Rest in Peace Jerry Hung

by Joanna
(Sydney)

Jerry was 9.6 years old. He was an active, protective and curious boy. He was always so vocal and loved crowing at the crack of down to tell the whole world to wake up. Once taken out of his coop, he would crow for minutes. He would tidbit and talk to the hens, telling them what to do, helping prepare nests, warning them and scowling.

He was so handsome and understood everything we said in different languages. He would run in a cute way. He had the best cuddles and smelling his scent was always calming.

His zest for life was infectious and he never stopped. He was always going and pushing, never giving up. A brave, selfless and loving boy. He was one of a kind. No one else like him.

I will see you one day. I hope you're happy with the others, digging, eating and sleeping. You are no longer suffering but at eternal peace. I'm honoured to have been your owner and to have had you for so long.

I've learnt about compassion, unconditional love, sacrifice and selflessness. All thanks to you and your qualities that you showed to the hens. You will always be my number one.

Michelle

by Jamie Skelton
(Bartonville, TX, USA)

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Michelle Obama.

She was a vibrant and energetic Rhode Island Red Hen. She loved meal worms, chicken scratch, and bossing around the other First Ladies in the West Wing Coop.

She is survived by her coop mates: Malania Trump, Lady Bird Johnson, and Jackie O.

Her eggs were delicious and a lovely soft brown color. She went home to be with the lord after she was murdered by a big blood hound. The hound is in custody and is in her cell (crate) while she thinks about what she did.

Our thoughts are with Michelle and her coop mates. It is believed that she died on impact after her neck broke.

We will celebrate her life with a large meal of frittata, deviled eggs, and egg drop soup.

Thanks snd hugs,

The Skelton family

Chicken Nugget (mum to Peep)

by Sarah M
(UK)

I can’t believe we’ve lost Nugget, the last of our original 3 Musketeers.

She was the best chicken mum to Peep, even now a year on, always snuggling up with her on the perch at night and looking out for her when others picked on her for being at the bottom of the pecking order..

Nugget, you were my best hen, always there, always friendly, I didn’t care that you were always a bit grubby, such a small bantam that almost waddled around, we loved you so much!

After the past few days I thought we’d saved you, you were back with the girls and had a lovely free range yesterday and seemed so much better.

Then this morning you deteriorated again, another stuck egg, but this time no matter what I did I couldn’t help. You had an appointment with the vet and I cuddled you for 4 hours and you held on for me while we waited to go.

The 2 mins I left you with J whilst I grabbed my keys to go, were the 2 minutes you chose to leave this world and it broke my heart. But I think you were waiting and saving me the pain of seeing you go.

You were a very funny and clever chicken.

We will miss you more than you’ll ever know Nugget, you brought us so much happiness. So use those new angel wings to fly even higher than you could on earth my girl.

Love always, S, J and A xxx

Howl, Pearl and Sapphire

by Jes
(Pa)

I decided to start keeping chickens because I saw a Silkie and just fell in complete love.

I was looking through Craigslist ads, and despite the somewhat higher prices that some of the bigger farms, I decided to call up a breeder.

I got Howl, who was supposed to be a female. He turned out to be the best rooster I've ever seen. He was majestic, magnetic and hilarious. Once he got a water bottle cap stuck on his spur and absolutely refused to let anyone remove it... I think he liked the jewelry, or saw it as a gift.

He protected our flock from a raccoon last winter and it left him with a limp and an infection in his leg requiring penicillin. I got him meds, put him in a special pen to heal, gave him rooster booster and extra mealworms, he was such a sweet bird.

He decided he didn't want to be in the pen and because he had the strength and ambition to leave I let him be out. He had a little girlfriend who he loved, looked just like him too.

He just brought me so much joy. He lost his life, tragically, but he died fighting. I saved some of his feathers, but when I recovered his body he had no head.

I buried him under a bush he loved in my yard. As for Pearl and Sapphire their bodies were never recovered, only feathers. I'm still struggling with the loss and the idea they could just be missing but after seeing Howl the way he was I know he died fighting.

He had a fighting spirit.

Our littlest Sunshine

by Kamile
(Northfield NJ USA)

She was loved by everyone who met her. She wasn’t an ordinary chicken, she was special for us. I never saw a chicken that smart before, her name was Sunshine-Cherry.

She would run to you talking when she would see you. She knew her name. Sunshine still had more years of living waiting for her.

But one night she was attacked by something, and she wasn’t with us anymore. But she will be remembered in our hearts forever.

Little Sunshine had a wonderful life. It’s just sad that it didn’t last more than it should.

At least we had her in our life, and she gave us a lot of joy and happiness.

We will miss you😢🖤

Layla, my first ever chicken love

by Dee Cocking
(Manchester, UK)

A beautiful cream/red Warren with a cheeky personality and an appetite for life. She loved wandering into the house for tid-bits or a cuddle and was so patient with the kids.

She laid the biggest eggs of the flock and seemed happy and healthy up until the end.

My daughter and I will miss you terribly and will remember you with fondness and a tear.

Rest in peace my love xx

Milly and Molly

by Margie
(New Zealand)

I lost my hen called Milly last week. She was such an awesome hen, who would run up to us for a hug.

When I took her to the vet she would just sit and look around, she never needed to be in a cage. The vet was always impressed with her - she would even talk to them.

Then there was Molly. I went out to feed her this morning and found her also dead. She was healthy yesterday.

She was the chook that would talk to you - but also said "don't touch me", lol. But sometimes she would let you pick her up, when she was in the mood.

She used to also chat to you when we locked her up at night or let her out in the morning.

I think she must have been pining for Milly.

Miss these two so much. They were such characters, and always so happy to see everyone.

Boq

by Carlo
(Philippines)

Boq is a sweet rooster - I lost him yesterday.

Always remember Boq that I love you so much. I'll take care of Nessa. Rest in Peace my baby. Love you!

Twisty

by Sian
(Powys, Wales)

Twisty was an ex commercial hen, we adopted 1 year and 2 weeks ago.

She was a special hen, with her special looks and quirky character. Every day she would manage to escape from the enclosure and roam free around our field, befriending our goats and following me around.

Quite unexpectedly and suddenly Twisty died today as I stroked her head, having been absolutely fine when I left her this morning.

She will leave a big hole in our lives, and has taken with her a piece of my heart.

Fly high Twisty, you were so loved.

Bob the Rooster

Bob was our first chicken. He was young when we got him and just gaining the confidence to crow his little heart out.

He would crow at the wild turkeys, they would gobble at him, he would crow again and they would converse whenever the turkeys came by. He crowed at the neighbors' roosters too. I was so proud.

He was curious and would follow us around to see what we were up to - even if we were using loud tools. He made these happy little clucking noises when foraging outside.

I was gone over the weekend and although we bought this fancy ChickenGuard door. He was safe in the coop at night but something must have happened to him during the day. Not sure if he was killed or spooked but he wasn't in the run.

It breaks my heart he got lost while we were away for the weekend. We should have just left him in the coop or in his crate inside.

It breaks my heart I won't get to see him do his proud little crow in the morning or have him follow me around while I do chores outside.

Good Girl, a little girl's best friend

by Kristy
(Ephrata, Pennsylvania, USA)

Good Girl was one of 5 Easter Eggers that represented our first leap into keeping backyard hens. We got her as a chick, and taught our daughter about caring for them.

All of the chickens are fun, but Good Girl was the smallest hen with the biggest attitude. Devon, our daughter, would hold her and love her. They rode the swings together and talked together in their own way on our back deck.

Yesterday evening, we found her lifeless in her coop. She was 3 and seemed perfectly healthy earlier in the day.

We are at a loss as to why she passed and feeling so helpless. It was a super rough night filled with tears.

My daughter found a nice place to lay her to rest under our sunflowers and laid some pretty flowers on top.

She was a wonderful chicken friend and will be missed.

Lucy Lou

by Wendy
(Winnemuca Nevada )

Lucy, you had 13 short months on this earth but you brought me so much joy. Your loud obnoxious cluck in the mornings to let me know you were ready for treats always made me smile.

I hope up in heaven you are getting all the blueberries you want.

A silly name for a chicken

by Steve
(Shapleigh, Maine)

When I was much younger my parents kept a small flock of hens for eggs. I always wanted to get back into chicken keeping, so when my wife expressed a similar desire we took the plunge and bought (ten) day old chicks of various breeds.

Standing out among the brood was a little yellow Buff Orpington who was the quickest and the most people-involved chick in the bunch. Because she was always first to come running for treats or too gobble up earthworms when I worked the garden, we called her Rocket.

Rocket was undoubtedly top of the pecking order in my small flock and busied herself keeping everyone else in line when they were out of the run during supervised free-ranging.

She was a talker whenever people were around, and had a soft, purring sound that she always made in response whenever I talked to her. She was hyper vigilant and was first to spot a hawk, cat or fox if one happened nearby.

She was gentle and liked to be handled. She was the most healthy chicken we had, and aside from occasional broodiness never had any troublesome issues that sometimes impacted her flockmates.

I never expected her to die unexpectedly. Two days ago I let the hens out in the morning for a browsing session inside the fenced area I made for them and did my daily visual check for any health issues. Everyone, including Rocket, looked fine and after a couple of hours I put them back in their run and left to run errands.

When I returned to let the girls out for one last time before locking them down for the night, I noticed that one of them was missing and did not come out of the run with everyone else. I checked the run and found our Rocket had died in the corner of the run.

She was just lying there with her wings spread and it was obvious that she was gone. I picked her up and found that she was still warm and rigor had not yet set in, but the color in her waddles and comb had turned from red to purple.

There were no signs of any violence, no wounds or anything. She had just died. Rocket was five years old like the rest of my hens so I knew that I would likely start losing them in the not too distant future, but I never expected her to go first.

Rest in peace Rocket. I hope there are lots of earthworms and grasshoppers where you've gone.

You are missed.

Our Little White Silkie, "Popcorn"

by Julie
(Paw Paw, Michigan, USA)

We got 6 day-old silkie chicks on April 2nd, 2020. One baby was pure white, and the rest were black and gray.

Our daughter's best friend named the white one Popcorn. She was a gentle little thing, and quiet compared to her brothers and sisters. The roosters went to a new home, and we have had three hens for about 9 months now.

Of the three, Popcorn was the most independent, and the top of the pecking order, such as it was. Their coop was built from part of our garage, and they roamed freely around our fenced-in yard all day long.

They gave us little silkie eggs - Popcorn's were round and brown. They were well fed and had healthy chicken treats, crushed eggshell and oyster shell for calcium, and fresh water always. They all seemed happy and happy.

This morning, my husband thought Popcorn was napping under the forsythia bush. When he checked on her, she turned out to be dead, no signs of struggle or violence. We are both very sad, and have no idea why this happened.

We miss our little fluffy white Popcorn in the back yard. Her sister Cricket seems to miss her too, but sister Pepper hides her feelings well.