Goodbye Princess Fantail

Hazel was a self-assured chicken, with no fear of cats.
Pepper looked, but dared not touch.

Sad news at the Ridge - our faithful chicken Hazel died recently.  She was one of the three exotic chickens who were originally established in the ‘Winsome Ridge Hotel for Posh Chooks’ some years ago. 

She was unmistakably  the best natured and best looking chook we ever had, with beautiful black and white feathers and an impressive fantail that she showed off now and then. She glided around the garden like a blissful dowager duchess, leaving it to the other chooks to run around like… well, like chooks.

Now there is only one of the original brood left, Wilma the Black Beauty, who pretends to have arthritis in her legs – but she can run like the devil whenever we try to pick her up. She’s the last of the aristocrats, and now finds herself surrounded by three very common brown chooks who all look alike and are rather loud and pushy. She’s lonely without Hazel, and sulks a lot.Well, she just better snap out of it and lay an egg!  She hasn’t done that for about three years, unlike the ‘ordinary’ brown chooks who try to do their duty every day. Wilma’s days may be numbered.