Anchor Struck

When I introduced you to our seven new chickens in late May, I posted that Princess Layer

(named by Gordon) “is the most elegant looking of the rookies, and she knows it . . . she has

a strong sense of entitlement.  We’ll see how this plays out.”

When I updated you on last Monday’s post, I said that she “has emerged as the star of the

group.  Bright, pretty and personable, she is always the first to greet us in the garden.”

She didn’t greet me that morning, actually.  She was in a nesting box when I put the girls up

that evening, and still there in the morning.  Hopefully, she died peacefully.

Princess was eggbound, a condition we didn’t know about until her death.  She was unable

to pass her eggs.  A few days before, Jude found a small, misshaped egg, but we don’t know

if it was from her.

Egg binding is fairly common, although one of our neighbours who has raised chickens for

a long time said she’d never seen it in her flock.  The egg can be massaged out or broken,

with care taken to remove all the shell parts.  If not addressed, binding can cause infection

or internal tissue damage.  Or death.

We’ll be alert for this from now on.  For now, however, we’ve lost our star.  Here she is in

her full glory.  What a beauty.