A tribute to Charles.

This is really sad and unexpected. Today we went into the coop and Charles was standing there, with his head and bum down. He wasn't moving at all, and Charles is usually the most active of all of them- trying to escape and running around. We took him into the house and set him near the fire on some newspapers, but he still wouldn't move. That was on Thursday.

Today his comb was purple and he kept his eyes closed for long periods of time. We took him up to the house and put him in a straw-filled box. We sat with him for two hours, and tried to feed him water and Gatorade, but his eyes were closed. He can't seem to sit down, so we think he is egg-bound, which means he can not release an egg. I have checked all my books, but I can not find anything remotely similar to what Charles has. You all know of course that Charles is my favorite chicken, and I am pretty sad about this. He will die either today or tomorrow. You may think"Oh he is just a chicken, you have 11 more". But it is like losing a dog or cat to any of you.

Click here to see all the posts with Charles in them.

I didn't want to post a picture of Charles in his current condition, I just don't want to remember him that way. I want to remember his curious, crazy manner that I liked best about him. Here are some of my favorite pictures of him: