Dotty at the bird bath |
When you love your livestock as much as I do you find that all your animals earn a place in your heart regardless of their destiny or disposition. The cute and affectionate amongst them are easy to bond with but from time to time the fleeced and feathered members of my farmyard flocks pose more of a challenge.Yet despite their occasionally extreme or unorthodox behaviours, they are often all the more endearing because of it.
Dotty the Wyandotte bantam |
That's how it was with a little barred wyandotte bantam I had called Dotty. Dotty had a visual impairment
from birth which made it
difficult for her to accurately peck
up food. The others would grab food
from under her beak while she
frantically pecked away, frustratedly missing her target about 4 times out of 5.
This used to make her very agitated and she would try and block the other hens with her body by
stepping sideways round the food
source while lunging and gulping, desperately trying to get what she could. Occasionally
she would loose her temper and lunge at the
others or try to chase them away. In the meantime another hen would seize the
opportunity to eat the food that she had momentarily stopped
guarding which only added to her distress.
Her poor eye sight also meant that she could
easily be taken advantage of by the young males in the flock who
would if given half a chance, sneak up on poor unsuspecting Dotty and pounce on
her in their enthusiasm to breed. So I had to keep her
separate from them once they had reached a reproductive age. Her vulnerability meant that she soon learnt to lash out first and ask
questions later if any hen (or cat) invaded
what she considered to be her personal space. Despite her proactive defense though, she was far from an aggressive hen.
Dotty's frantic pecking puts Buffy's feet on the menu! |
My other hens tolerated her occasional frustrated outbursts however she only ever managed to form a real bond with just one hen friend and not until she was about 3 years old. Sadly a little blue hen who was her constant companion had her little life cut short by a bout of infectious bronchitis brought in by the wild ducks that nest here in Spring. Unfortunately Dotty never quite managed to make another friend. She seemed happy and healthy enough though for most of her life but was always a bit of an outsider.
Dotty enjoys a worm.....as long as it's at eye level |
We accommodated
her special needs by always giving
her treats separately from the others
and in a concentrated heap or in
a dish so that her pecks were more
productive. Ruffus the resident cock took
great care of her, accompanying her on foraging
trips and displaying the patience of a saint when
it came to finding food for her and
guarding her while she pecked it up. If any of the younger males ever showed a romantic interest in her, then Ruffus
would chase them away and she quickly
learnt to seek him out for
protection.
Her unusual
behaviour and uneventful little life continued much the same for years, with
all of us making allowance or ministering to her needs. But when it was
finally Ruffus’s time to go we lost a gentle, patient little cock and Dotty too
lost a little something which never returned.
So while the other hens ranged happily, Dotty
took to standing in the coop all day in a little pool of sunlight which shone
through the pop hole door. She would occasionally venture out into the run to peck at a little food
and sip some water before returning to stand, patient and alone in her solitary
sunlit vigil. It soon became apparent that this was
probably a sign of further deterioration in her sight exposed by her loss of Ruffus as companion and escort. So with much sadness we decided that it would be kinder to to let her go too than to leave her to slowly fade away into a world of loneliness and gloom.
We opted for a quick if sad end to our little hens life as an act of helpless compassion on our part, for a much loved hen with a wonderful character.
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