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Remembering Betsy

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From time to time we will be posting one of our articles that we wrote  for a small local magazine. 
This one was written in the summer of 2009.

12 ACRES IN OHIO
Remembering Betsy
           
Two years ago this month we lost a dear friend. She was a one-legged Barred Rock hen, and she was a big part of our daily lives for 3 years. She left a big empty space when she died….

Betsy looking for bugs. You can see her crippled leg in this photo.

 She came to us along with twenty other day-old Barred Rock chicks five years ago. At first, she looked like all the other chicks, but a couple of weeks after their arrival, we noticed the leg of one of the chicks was angled out and she walked on her hock. Our first concern was that she might have some horrible disease that could be passed on to the other chicks. But everything we read said that probably was not the case. Then we were worried that the others might gang up on her—but that wasn't happening either, so we let her stay in the flock. Day by day, her leg became more twisted and eventually curled up alongside her wing. The other leg was perfectly normal and she hopped along with the other chicks. She seemed content and she was thriving.  We named her "Little Betsy". 
From the beginning, Betsy wanted to do everything the other chicks did. Her handicap only increased her determination—and sometimes, her frustration. When they no longer needed the brooder lamp and started roosting on the stepladder at night she would fight and flap angrily around trying to get up on the first rung. Finally, Robin fixed a platform for her next to the ladder so she could at least sleep on the same level as the others. But when the other chickens got older and began sleeping on roosting poles at night, she accepted the fact that she couldn't get up there with them, and she slept in a box we fixed up for her in the corner of the chicken coop.  

 
Gena holding Betsy.
We got into the habit of carrying Betsy out to the back field on daily “walks”. She got a change of scenery and some tasty bugs—we got a chance to spend some time with her and relax. She seemed to look forward to the walks, too—she would wait for us at the gate and hop out to meet us. Sometimes we’d set her down and she’d settle herself up to her eyeballs in a patch of wildflowers to wait for unsuspecting bugs. Most of the time Keetie, her best friend—a bald, blue-headed pearl guinea—tagged along, and they would busy themselves picking under rotting logs or in the tall grass for bugs and worms while we sat on the ground and watched.

Betsy looking under a log for worms and other delectable bugs!

Betsy was a lot of company whenever we’d go to the coop. She always had to see what we were doing, and she was quite a talker—she had an opinion on everything. She also earned her keep—every couple of days we found a perfectly formed beige egg behind her bed.
As she got older, she spent more time lounging in the chicken yard. We’d look out the back door frequently to check on her—and the others—especially if we knew there was a hawk in the area. When we’d see her hopping along the fence, we knew everything was “right with the world.”
Betsy passed away unexpectedly on a hot sunny day in August, 2007. She was a tough little bird, and she showed us what determination can accomplish. And because of her we also gained a greater appreciation of all birds, and a better understanding of their behavior. We still miss her.
Robin holding Betsy and Keetie

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