I wasn’t sure whether to do a tribute to the two girls separately but decided that as they went together I would do this for both of them in one post.
In my title I have put Spangle first as we have had her the longest. However I will do my tribute to Snowflake first as it’s shorter and was much quicker to find the photos as we only had her for a year and she was the one girl who hated me taking photos of her.
We had Spangle for five years and she has seen a lot of girls come and go in her time with us and she never minded me taking photos of her.
Snowflake
We got three new girls on 25/2/22. Snowflake was a chabo, Gold is an ardennaise and Storm is a modern game. They were three and a half months old. From the start Snowflake didn’t like being handled and photographed whereas the other two were not bothered at all.
Snowflake’s time with us was all too short.
Spangle
We got five seramas in August 2018 at two and a half months old. I called them the five amigos. They were Smoke, Salmon, Vanilla, Marmite and Spangle. Sadly only Salmon is still with us.
Spangle is the girl that has most changed in her appearance out of all the girls we have ever had. When we first got her we thought she looked like a turnstone. She had lots of brown feathers. As she moulted she gradually lost her brown feathers. First the feathers on her back disappeared and then gradually her tail feathers. She ended up with just a few brown diamonds on her back. I think she got more and more pretty as she changed.
Spangle is eating from the bowl on the left. She now has no brown tail feathers and in fact very few brown feathers.
With all the girls laying there were times when all the nest boxes were occupied. I knew Spangle wanted to lay so I made a temporary nest box from a crisp box which Spangle immediately took to.
Spangle is now white with a few small brown feathers. I thought she was a really beautiful girl. She also had a lovely friendly nature.
We were lucky to have a good five years with spangle. She was a beautiful girl with a lovely nature. She is very much missed and will never be forgotten.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
You have been superb at keeping photographic evidence as long as I have known you. Spangle was really quite an old lady, but not old enough not to come back into lay! The transformation in her appearance is astounding, and you have documented it so very well. It was lovely to see the early photo of your five amigos again. Much heartache along the way, but so much joy. XX
It was such a shame that Spangle came back into lay as she had never had a problem before. She went through an amazing transformation and only got more beautiful as she aged. There is so much heart ache along the way but as you say so much joy too and I can’t imagine not having chickens. xx
A beautiful tribute Carol. Both beautiful girls and incredible how much Spangle changed in appearance as she moulted! I really hope you have a long spell now with no more losses – chicken-keeping really isn’t for the faint-hearted! xx
It was incredible how much Spangle changed and just got more beautiful as she aged. You are so right that chicken keeping isn’t for the faint hearted. I would love to have a spell of no more loses but in truth I am not sure about Diamond. I hope she will be okay but she hasn’t laid since we have had her and I have just cleaned up her dirty bottom. I dread that there is something not right with her but keep hoping that she will turn out to be okay. I am hoping for the best. xx
A lovely tribute to two beautiful girls. Some lovely pictures. I do hope Diamond will get well.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for Diamond but just trying to be realistic. It’s never a good sign when a young girl isn’t laying but I keep hoping she will surprise us some day soon.
I don’t know if its of any help to you Carol but I took my elderly hen Jasmine to the vets on Friday as she has had diarrhoea for a few weeks. He couldn’t find anything nasty but he suggested I order some Beryl’s friendly bacteria from The Chicken Vet online. I’ll let you know how I get on xx
Oh yes, please do let me know how you get on. Diamond had a mucky bottom when we first had her but this didn’t happen again until just recently and she is okay since I cleaned her up. I just wonder if the gape worm at a young age has caused some damage. The cough sound is only very occasional now, hardly at all. But ever since the gape worm she does this weird thing, snaking her head/neck to the ground while stepping backwards. Again it’s just occasional but she has done this since the gape worm. These things and her not laying make me wonder if the gape worm caused lasting damage. She does run to the treats and eats well. Her comb is a lovely red colour and she seems fine otherwise. I am just trying to be aware of a possible problem as we have been so unlucky. Her beak also needs trimming again. It seems to grow ever more quickly. xx