R.I.P. Henri

Henri (on-ree) was a super sweet girl.

As the storm blew in yesterday evening, I went to the chicken coop to do the nightly headcount. Expecting nine, I saw only eight. Was one hiding in a corner of the coop? Or perhaps one animal was still out and about. They had been free roaming in the backyard earlier. Did the last one stay behind in the shrubbery and then have trouble finding its way back to the coop? Chickens cannot see well in the dark.

I retrieved a flashlight to confirm there were only eight in the coop. When I expanded my search area, I saw a chicken lying down in the chicken run. Odd. She was weak and let me pick her up without struggling. We brought her to the porch and tried to coax her to drink water. Unfortunately, she died an hour later, likely due to heat stress.

Just a chicken? Henri was very friendly and laid a big light brown egg. We are happy to have been able to care for her. We’ll miss her.