RIP Sunny

I found Sunny laying flat on her back this afternoon in the coop.  It looked like she died in the night and fell off.  When I let the chickens out this morning, they were going nuts, but I didn't think anything of it really because the weather was awful, and well, they're chickens.

Sunny was in the first group of chickens we ever had 2 years ago.  She was the first one with a name, had a pretty egg song, and was probably the biggest chicken I've ever seen.  It comes at a weird time, too.

We were hoping that when our rooster(s) got a little bigger that we could breed Sunny, and she'll never see the new house.  I can only think that the stress of being moved to a new location might have done her in if she was already not doing well.  I buried her in the garden at our apartment.  It felt like a nice gift to the soil that has fed and nourished us for the last 4 years.  This sun has set. 



P.S.  It feels weird in a way to be writing a eulogy for a dead chicken, considering that we kill and eat these same animals, and would have done the same with Sunny had she not died unexpectedly.  However, we also care deeply for, and appreciate our animals. We would wish them no other harm.  I have no idea what the actual cause of death was, if she struggled, or any of the other circumstances.  Not to mention, her flockmates spent most of the day in plain view of her corpse.  That's not how we do things when we have a choice.  And with that, I say farewell to my friend.