Big Bertha
Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:18 am
The last of my hatchery birds, Big Bertha the Barred Rock. Two months short of 14 years old, she was a big fat girl all her life and laid BIG eggs. She slowed down as she aged, of course, but every summer I would get a few from her. She would never win any beauty contests, nor even any personality contests, but she always held a top spot in the pecking order without being cruel. She was tough as nails, and even as she slowed in her old age, not much tried to mess with her under threat of stink-eye! During the past few days, she'd been unusually tired and breathing a bit heavily, and former enemies were now gathering around her to keep her warm. She relished the attention rather than driving them away! Yesterday morning I noted her comb was purplish and determined it was time for her long life to come to an end at evening chores...but she made the decision for me, and passed quietly in her sleep during the day. I was not particularly attached to her: she was a crusty old gal who only gave me maybe a handful of chicks in her life...but she had coop cred, and thanks to her son Boris who she outlived, I now have several of her grand daughters about to lay eggs for the first time :) I felt her passing deserved a tip of the hat. 
Bertha!!
Bertha and Princess
What a Hussy
Queen of all she surveys
This half of the roost is MINE
Googles and Bertha
Bertha!! Bertha and Princess
