We can’t be sure, but as close as we can figure it, the old White Hen either got chased out of the roos or got confused and wandered off. She was out in the storms, rain, snow, and ice for five days (we just counted), and yesterday, she looked as if she was finished.

She must have wandered somewhere and got lost and didn’t eat or get shelter in brutal cold for days.

She has a new roost in the barn and seems comfortable there. She won’t eat unless the food is handed to her by hand. She drinks enormous amounts of water but seems blind or deaf about food and its location. Given this, she is ravenous. She looks dramatically better than yesterday, but we aren’t kidding. She is very near the end.

A few years ago, I would have shot her if she had gotten this sick and old, but I guess I have changed. This feels better, but there are limits. She doesn’t seem to suffer and seems happy in her new hospice roost. Maria knows her very well, and the White Hen seems to trust both of us. She is sure to talk to us a lot.

It feels good to give her this restful way to go. She has been an excellent hen for over a decade, providing us with eggs and lovely photos. She deserves this consideration; it feels better than a rifle’s end. Maria took the video below.