A lovely tribute. Made me tear up.Thank you. I feel like a complete idiot being so sad ; it seems all the chickens and my partner had already known and accepted Cannelle would be dead today.
Long remembrance post.
I know she had a good life in some ways. Though it was the longest of my ex-batt's now, four year and a almost half, it was too short. I feel an ugly jealousy when I read posts on BYC about chickens still doing well at nine or ten. I think also that it was difficult for my ex-batts to adapt to all the new chickens we brought and hatched, especially the roosters, and that their life was happiest the first two years on their own. Though Cannelle did relatively good compared to the others.
We are not meant to have favourites, or at least to make a difference in the way we treat the chickens, but I think amongst the ex-batts she may have been the one I preferred. Although she was certainly not close to us ! Here is what I can share about her
We called her Cannelle la vilaine, naughty Cannelle, because she was a bit wild when she was young. This last months, it had turned into Cannellou de la Vilainie, Cannellou of Naughtygham, because it sounded more fun and aristocratic.
She earned this nickname as a pullet when she started laying and she had decided to lay in the irises above the wall that borders the chicken yard. It took us a bit of time to see how she did this. She went on the perch that's next to the cherry tree, took some momentum, and went for a flight almost six meters long and two meters high. And she was clever enough to wait for a moment when we were out of sight to do this.
At the time we knew nothing about chickens and we had no better idea than to lock her up in the coop when it was time to lay. She went crazy for a few days, but she never laid outside the coop again. I'm sorry retrospectively we squeezed out of her what seemed like a move toward a more natural behaviour just a few months after being let out of the battery. It was in line with her behaviour - usually discreet, but a free soul who did what she wanted and did not want much to do with humans. She did love pecking pants for hours though.
There was no clear pecking order between the ex-batts but I would say she yielded only to Vanille. She was rather benevolent with the newcomers and just wanted to be left to her own devices - she would peck if they came too close, but she never harassed them.
When Vanille died in July 2022, the three next mornings Cannelle screamed for hours, breaking her voice. She made a sound much like what is often called the egg sound, but with a roll, like a Scottish or a Bavarian R. The only other chicken I've heard making that sound is Gaston on a few occasions. I'm not sure what it is - something is wrong ? something has changed ?
A fond memory I have is last winter (2022-2023) when Gaston was still a cockerel, terrified of Théo, and beginning to try to discreetly mate the ex-batts for the first times. It had snowed and Cannelle was the only hen who ventured out in the narrow path we had shovelled for them. Gaston was at the other end, and started charging her all wings spread, looking rather impressive. She stood her ground, and when he got to her, side stepped right in the snow. Gaston didn't know snow so he tried to jump on her and found himself stuck in about 50 cm of it. I had to get him out and since then, he thoroughly despises it ! Cannelle calmly made her way back to the coop and Théo, who was still dominant rooster then.
During the last year her behaviour changed. She had laying issues, spent a lot of time in nests without laying, and when she did lay from January to May her eggs were flattened on one side. She was very ill this summer. But during her illness she also spent a lot of time with us. We let her out of the chicken yard so she could share lunch with us, and forage with Piou-piou, and enjoy true free ranging for the first time in her life . She followed Piou-piou everywhere. This lasted for maybe four weeks ; then she got better, started molting, and began to stay hiding under the laurel tree or the coop a lot.
She became more mean, which I suppose was due to her poor health. Somehow Chipie had decided to challenge her, even though Cannelle was the only ex-batt who more or less accepted her. At first, Cannelle had just ignored her, but after a while she turned on her and they had a few fights, with no serious damage though.
Like all my ex-batts, she had good and bad days, and when she was on a good day it seemed everything was wonderful. She was so independent. It was only when she became really sick that I was able to hold her for more than a few seconds, and she still hated it. And I also found her beautiful, those red hybrid layers may not be prized like heritage breeds but they will remain my model of chicken beauty.
We buried her in the hole we dug for Blanche months ago. Blanche and her have been closely following each other with their health issues. Yesterday morning, Blanche made a mourning sound when she realised Cannelle was staying in the crate again and I think she knew then. I am getting ready that she will follow Cannelle soon.
A lot of pictures. I don't have many from when she was younger because I didn't take a lot of pictures then and she was never standing still a'd difficult to get close to.
First times out of the coop. 23 February 2020, not laying yet.
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Cannelle on the left, Blanche on the right.
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First and only real brawl with Brune.
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2021.
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Left to right : Blanche, Brune, Caramel, Cannelle.
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Curious.
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Laying with Blanche.
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September, Chipie looking for trouble.
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The ex-batt's spent a lot of time pecking pants.
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Left to right : Nougat, Cannelle, Blanche.
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Front right to back left : Cannelle, Nougat, Blanche
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Molting.
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A month ago.
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Beginning of February, when she was still up to it we let her out to forage in the garden for one or two hours.
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Dead Cannelle. Salut la vilaine !
She really did have a good life with you.
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! When it stops raining I will cover all the tree's base with the left over tiles we have from the old houses, as I would like the chickens to leave some chops for the saplings.
