Recently our wyandotte hen Annie passed away. It's been a while since I told the story of any of our hens and I'd like to share some photos of her for prosperity, because she certainly had a place in our hearts.

I never planned on getting wyandotte chickens, because we live in a very hot climate and they aren't really built for it. They are a relatively heavy breed and have small, rose combs, which don't allow for heat dispersal as well as a large comb would. We’d actually planned to get barnevelders, but the lady we were getting the hatching eggs from informed us last minute that most of her hens had gone broody and she wouldn't be able to make up the two dozen eggs we were after. She offered to make them up with a mixture of eggs from her other breeds and I was eager to get some eggs hatching, so I agreed. The gold laced wyandottes were just so beautiful, I couldn't resist letting her add some eggs, after asking how they managed the hot days.

It was nearly a four hour round trip to fetch these eggs, but I appreciated how the birds were being kept after seeing some nasty conditions with some of the local breeders. Unfortunately, her good chicken ranging practices didn't account for the fact that her breeding choices were a little questionable, as we soon discovered some inbreeding issues which lead to a bad hatch rate and some early deaths in the barnevelders. Thankfully it was just within the barnevelders, but disappointing as these were the majority of the eggs.

Of the wyandottes there was a 100% hatch rate, but just one female out of them. We named her Anne the wyANNdotte, which in true Australian fashion became Annie. Annie got a lot of attention growing up, not just because of her beautiful colouring and the fact she was the only female wyandotte, but because she got sick. It turned out to be worms, but we still don't know why it affected her much more than the rest of them. Once the flock was treated she made a full recovery and grew into a big, beautiful lady.

While Annie tolerated handling, she much preferred to hop on your shoulder or back, especially if you crouched down in the run. Many a jacket ended up with her muddy footprints on it, over the years. She was also such a mothering kind of hen, that if you felt a light pecking or tugging on your clothes, it was most likely her preening you.

^{I seem to have lost the original of this photo and had to retrieve the watermarked from Instagram. 😕}

She was what I called a walking broody. For those who may not know, when a hen goes broody, she will stop laying eggs and sit on them instead. The broody hen will wander around for a few days before sitting making a distinctive clucking which is immediately recognisable as that broody cluck and I'm sure it's where the term “feeling clucky” comes from. They will also puff themselves up and when they come off the nest for breaks during sitting you'll know about it with that feathery, clucking fluff ball who'll likely also scream at a few other hens while she eats, drinks, dustbathes and does the biggest chicken poop you've every seen, before going back to the nest!

^{That broody pose!}

This cycle can usually be broken by confining them to an area without nesting materials until their hormones settle back down. Once settled, they'll take about two weeks to start laying again.

^{A rare moment on the nest.}

Wyandottes are well known as being broody, but Annie was a little different. She’d decide she was broody and would wander around clucky. Then she'd nest for a few days, but come off and wander around clucky again. She wouldn't sit for long enough to hatch any eggs, but she also wouldn't come out of the broody state and instead stayed ‘walking broody’. Confining her without a nest box mattered not one bit, because she didn't need a nest to be broody. For two years we got no eggs from her, but just her longing to be a mamma. Then our bantam, Red (who is now also departed), hatched some eggs and once she came out into the main run with her chicks, Annie moved in to become a second mother. She continued to mother them even after Red was done with them and didn't stop until they were several months old. Then, for the first time in two years she snapped out of being broody and laid eggs for the rest of the season. Naturally, the next season she only laid enough eggs for a clutch and went back to being a walking broody.

^{Inserting herself in as a second mamma.}

^{In her element!}

^{With the teens.}

While she wasn't very old, she was certainly slowing down in the days leading up to her death, so I suspected it was coming. I came into the coop one afternoon, to find her peacefully lying in the little dustbathing crater she'd make for herself. She looked like she'd passed on quite peacefully, with the rest of her flock around her.

^{My last photo of her before she left us.}

~○♧◇♡♤♡◇♧○~

---

You can also find The Miniature Smallholding on:

Instagram
Facebook
YouTube