I dished out the obligatory enamel bowls and ten minutes later the kids darted back to the cottage to inform me that one of the hens was ill.
"I think you have a hen with asthma" the little boy informed me seriously
and he took me over to the pond to show me the breathless hen.
It was Ruth, the final ghost hen , who was gasping for breath.
The children squatted down on their haunches with interest and asked a whole load of questions as I sat down next to the hen.
"Why was she gasping? ....why was her head a dark colour?......why was her eyes shut?"
Initially I was not sure of just what to say to a couple of seven year olds, but I guessed that it was pretty much ok to tell them the truth gently and without any fuss.
So carefully I explained that the hen's heart was giving out and that she was not in any pain but she was dying, and that was why she was a strange colour and she was making an odd noise.
I also told them that she was an old hen and had lived over a year past the date. she was expected to die
The children nodded somberly and we watched the hen together for a while before they informed me that they were off home.
"will you bury her when she dies?" the boy asked before he went
"Yes I said" (I didn't have the heart to tell them that I would leave the body by the badger set in the next field)
"That's good!" he said.standing up.
By the time the kids had gone. I sat down next to Ruth and let her rest her straining head on my foot .
I didn't quite have the heart to pull her neck, and I am glad I didn't as moments later she died.
They taught me just how six genetically buggered up broiler hens with a life expectancy of just 10 weeks, can enjoy a semblance of a normal life for months with a bit of ingenuity and a daily dose of TLC.
For months they enjoyed a field full of grass and many days bathing in the sun
Not a bad life really.......... eh?
I think that's good that children can learn about the fact things die, sometimes the world can sanitize things so much, that it can be a brutal awakening when they finally have to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteI am also rather happy they did take note, and TELL you they noticed something off. Observation is something I find almost indespensable with animals. After all, animals can't say verbally, hey, my ankle hurts...
I think it was quite a feat for you to have had them go for as long as you did! (Mine didn't do as well, but it was the first time I'd ever dealt with those mutant things... Not going to happen again, willingly...)
Awe You Big Ole Softie, I would hug you but I need to wipe my eyes.
ReplyDelete:O) You have a wonderful soul my friend.
Mal
You handled the children well, telling them the truth instead of making up some mumbojumbo so as not to "scare" them.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that chickens could be bred to only last 10 weeks. What on earth have we done?
ReplyDeleteA good experience for the children. I think you handled it beautifully.
Great story.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to tell see a badger in the wild
I'm glad there are soft-hearted, honest people in this world, you my friend are one of them.
ReplyDeleteI'd bring you a loaf of freshly-baked banana bread if we lived closer, just because you're one of the good'uns.
~Jo
We had ex-broiler hens. Lovely to see them learning to scratch, catch insects...and just pooter about.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad she went quietly in her own time.
John, you have the kindest, gentle soul. I am happy that you explained to the children about what was really happening with the Ghost Hen. So many people sugar coat 'death' when talking to kids about it.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear of the last Ghost Hen's passing. You gave her a most wonderful life.
Hugs. xoxo
I'm sorry Ruth is gone but very glad that she and her "sisters" lived with you happily for as long as they did. Thank you for giving them that gift. xoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteNot a bad life at all.
ReplyDeleteYou're a good-hearted man.
John, they didn't know what hit them when you gave them a 'home'. But soon, in a hens way, realized they had it pretty good darn good for as long as they lived. Shows what a little tenderness can do!
ReplyDeleteBless you John. Bless you for caring so deeply for a few birds that had a chance to be chickens. Those chickens are a perfect example of why we shouldn't mess around with altering the genetics in our food.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet of you to take the time to sit with the children and answer their questions. You are one in a million.
I think it is lesson for us all..
ReplyDeletefactory eggs/factory farmed hens....
not good
I am sitting here with blurred vision and tears running down my face...what a good soul you are.
ReplyDeletePoor Ruth, but at least she had a happy life whilst she was with you.
ReplyDeletePoor chicky, but lucky chicky. I agree (of course) about factory hens - I would never knowingly buy the eggs.
ReplyDeleteJust one thing though - DON'T see this as any sort of portent about your current tests - or if you do, then see it as the positive you richly deserve! X
Well done, John. xxx
ReplyDeleteNot a bad life at all. Well done John. (Typing this with tears in my eyes.) You're enriching the lives of those village kids too, as well as the many critters you look after.
ReplyDeletemybabyjohn: Well, thank God for you. I thought I was gonna be the only to bawl at this post!
ReplyDeleteWawawawawawaa!
John, great job at giving these chickens a wonderful home.
Farmer
Meat chickens, just for the record, are not genetically altered. It's quite easy with chickens to breed for a set of characteristics. One set of parents can produce a lot of offspring in a year, unlike a cow for example that's limited to one. That's how meat birds were developed. Not saying that's a good thing, just that (to my knowledge and according to poultry experts at UC Davis) there was no genetic manipulation. Same goes for the Leghorns that have been developed for commercial egg laying. All of this is a good reason for people to perpetuate the heritage breeds, which are mostly well-balanced hardy birds.
ReplyDeleteperhaps I should have just said "in bred"! and intensively fed
ReplyDeleterather than genetically modified
I stand corrected
John, the last photo is one of my favorites of the hens--I think it belongs on the front of a card! I was always glad you didn't eat the hens, because I was so taken with them at the start and I think I would have stopped reading your blog if you had--okay, maybe I wouldn't have! :-)))
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful, real, sensitive lesson for the children.
ReplyDeleteWell done with the chickens and the children! I'm glad Ruth (my Mom's name, although she passed on almost 4 years ago) and her sisters lived with you their last months.
ReplyDeleteNancy in Iowa
You're a good man John.
ReplyDeleteBless your sweet heart John the dogs.
ReplyDeleteIt is a gentle thing you did, John, to keep company with another being as it breathed its last breath. Your heart must have been greatly moved.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost ashamed to say that none of our chickens ever saw a 'natural' end. They were there to do a job; which they did very well! Our children were brought up with the reality of poultry keeping; as were my sister and I.
ReplyDeletecro
ReplyDeleteI agree with you
I have learnt to dispatch and dress the hens now and am much more singuine with thewir husbandry
but there was something quite special about these underdogs
You know, despite your profile description, you're not even the least bit boring. And you're a bit of a sweetheart, too, aren't you? Nice for the kids and the chickens.
ReplyDeleteShe was lucky to have you and you in turn were privileged to enjoy their company for such an extended time due to your kindness. Well done.
ReplyDeleteChildren do need to learn about death. Living with animals sometimes brings that lesson home faster than we parents would like, but it is a lesson they need learn.
ReplyDeleteSome wonderful work, John.
ReplyDeleteYou are more than a very kind man John. You teach lessons, record history and give of yourself to so many of life's creatures.
ReplyDeleteThis post left me quiet for a long time (in a good way). It was a time for reflection and contemplation. Life is precious, even more so for its evanescence. I am glad that you were there for the last moments of this little creature who's life started so ugly and ended in your company. The hens in the last picture look content and rested. In the end, all was well.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as i read the title to this blog post, i felt sure i knew what was coming. And the tears flowed.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad the children saw that something was wrong and came to tell you, so you could be with Ruth as she left this life. And that you found the words to explain what was happening.
Bless you for your 'soft decision.'
megan
Let me say up front I don't mean this argumentative with any other commenter. This is just my thinking.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on a Brooder Farm. Almost everyone in that area raised chickens (had commercial brooder houses) or had commercial egg houses. The laying houses were actually worse than the brooder houses in my opinion. That was the industry at that time in that area. Lots of it.
My point is make no mistake you are correct in that those birds are bred for the life they live. The experts can choose their words as carefully as they like. Pick the prettiest ones, they are still bred, developed, researched, improved, made better LOL...for fast growth with a goal of certain weight and size in the least amount of time and food and for food to egg ratio, egg production.
The poultry experts can pretty it up and use what ever words they want about it, but yes they are specifically bred and improved for production.
Improved they may want to borrow that word its a nice pretty word.:O)
And if we want to further everyones eduction some more we could discuss what is in the food they feed them! I am quite sure if we read a article from the experts on that it would sound like those birds were being fed solid gold food. :O).
I will also state that if animals are raised humanely for food (though I am vegetarian) I have no issue with that. People do have to eat. BUT big business needs to stop being so darn greedy and put the animals well being first.
This is a topic that hits a nerve with me. Not just about chickens either. I don't like how the experts of this world from the FDA to Mr. Big Business are always trying to gloss over and pretty up, to cover up, the ugly truth about lots of things! They need to put on their big boy pants and tell the truth and let people decide for themselves what they think.
phew tex
ReplyDeletethats your longest comment on my blog
xx
Texan
ReplyDeleteThank you, I agree. I have been in a few commercial egg laying places and they were beyond depressing. The conditions weren't as bad for meat birds because they're dispatched by the time they're 8 weeks old. The egg layers are munched into crowded pens for 18 months. We can all fight this by doing what John does, raise our own hens and spoil them rotten. Don't buy commercial eggs.
Oh, and if you live in the city and your neighbor has hens, stop complaining about it, see if you can buy some eggs from them. Not that anyone who reads your blog, John, would complain about hens. But there are lots of people out there who think anything that poops - except humans - is a health hazard. As they eat their Twinkies and Cheetos.
ReplyDeletejan
ReplyDeleteI intermittently get complaints....indeed the last 6 buffs came to me, as you know, after a small minded neighbour complained to the hens' owner and asked for them to be shifted.
hummm
do I spoil my hens.....?
no I will have to say I dont.....ok the ghost hens got spoilt, but thats because they were on borrowed time, but my general girls are just, well looked after, as any animal should be.... but I would argue that they are spoilt..
I cannot abide animals being neglected in any way through ignorance...after all ignorance is NO defence in the law....
Beautiful post, and unexpectedly moving. I shall remember the ghost hens.
ReplyDeleteWe had ex-battery hens once and they were so very rewarding.
ReplyDeleteWell I’ve had the good fortune to grow up in the green parts as well as on a Hampshire farm, but this touching story, so eloquently told too, had me peeking out from behind my hanky. Even after all these years, it’s still a sad occasion when they breathe their last. Big or small. Wings, hooves or paws. I was out walking in a remote part of the forest recently when a great big grubby old badger suddenly waddled out of the bracken right at my feet and just carried on waddling and grunting away to itself down the trail I was following. Didn’t even stop to give me a nod. Miserable old git.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Texans comment and sentiments too. They’ll never put their big boy pants on though. They’re simply not big enough boys and they’ll continue to pander to the wholesale fraternities of the naïve and gullibly ignorant who continue to bury their heads in the sand in the cause of convenience et all.
Hi John:
ReplyDeleteRather than bother you for an explanation of what a ghost hen was, I thought I'd Google the term, but ended up with a link back to your blog and a video you took! So, I am still in the dark as to what exactly a ghost hen is. Would you be able to fill me in?
I've only recently found your blog, and I am enjoying reading about your life in rural Wales. Reminds me a little bit of The Good Life.
Liz
ReplyDelete"The ghost hens" were a nicknam I gave to 6 broiler hens I was given last year.
The six little hens were runts brought up for a few weeks in a factory farm and when I got them they had never seen a blade of grass or the sun, or even proper daylight!
I set them up in a run and the poor little group could not cope with the experience of the outdoors and just sat quietly together watching everything but doing nothing.
hence the nickname "ghosts"
they were silent and still as the grave.
after a few months they turned into bouncy fat hens that enjoyed their lives..... but the nickname stuck...hope that helps
johnx
Oh John...
ReplyDeleteI'm just SO grateful to you. What a gift you gave those six, fragile, beautiful, abused, gentle, innocent, bewildered and absurd little girls. I'm not sure you fully understand what you've done, perhaps because for you it's just second nature. They were fully sentient beings as I'm sure you're aware, only without the benefit of an intellect to help filter and shield them from their experience of life. This made their early experience of abuse that much more cruel for them...a living horror...but then conversely, it also helped magnify their later experience of kindness at your hands. And that kindness was both the longest and the last thing they knew.
I find it extraordinary that two of them died in your lap. The moment of death is such a fleeting and unpredictable thing. I like to imagine that Ruth held on, in some little, mysterious, ghost hen kind of way, until you returned home from your brother's, so the children could find her and summon you. (It's so perfect that children were her intermediaries!) Held on so that you could tell her story to them as a teaching story. Held on as she'd learned to hold on and endure through hardship during the first few weeks of her life. Held on so that you could come to her for the last time and receive her good bye as a gentle, exhausted, dignified head laid upon your leg.
Thanks for letting us all know that she passed. Clearly, from the comments, she and her sisters moved and inspired us all.
Dia
thank you dia x
ReplyDeleteReally chuffed to read this as we found a day old broiler chick on a verge this time last week (cycled the rest of the way home as fast as I could with it peeping it's head off in my saddle bag!!) and we hated the idea it might be doomed to 'go off it's legs'... Living happily in an incubator in the front room right now we're very fond of little 'Virgil' already and will give it the best chance we can... Don't suppose it can be integrated with our 4 old Light Sussex but we'll give it a good share of their garden and keep it safe. One week old and it's learnt to dust-bath already! :-)
ReplyDeletecaroline
ReplyDeletelovely to hear that you saved a broiler
I miss my ghost hens.... pacid, sweet natured and lovely to look at....