Honks

She came from this egg farm.

She was featherless, emaciated and so very angry. She’d lived in that place for nearly 18 months. That night, I took her and three of her friends home. Two months later, this entire shed was sent to slaughter at only 18 months old. They were denied of food for up to two weeks and then ripped out of their cages and sent to their deaths. Honks was so lucky to escape this fate. When I brought her home that morning at 6am and put her in the chicken coop, she attacked me with such ferocity that she drew blood from my hands. Her anger at the world had taken her over. She hated me, she hated the other chickens. She pecked all the other girls in the head often and would pull their feathers out.

After she began to realise that she would always have her freedom, she calmed down. We initially named her “Regina George” after a character in the movie, “Mean Girls” because she would be quite mean to the other chickens, but her name naturally changed as she began to calm down and become her true self. We called her Honks because of how she talks, she didn’t chirp, she honked.

Honks was a determined girl who didn’t let anyone get in her way. She had chickening business to do every day and she started work early and finished late. The first chicken at a new patch of dirt was Honks. The first girl to find the bugs was Honks. The first girl to grab the lettuce was honks. The first girl everywhere was always Honks. She took care of business. She had goals and tasks in mind and she completed them all every single day. She knew her name and honked back at you when you said it.  To imagine Honk’s frustration and anger being locked in a cage for so long makes me worry for the hens she was locked in a cage with. She would’ve taken her anger out on those hens.

Honky earned the nickname of “Queen Honky” because she ruled the flock. She was like a surrogate rooster to our special needs flock. She was always on the lookout for predators and would call everyone when there was food to be had. She wasn’t a mean flock leader, but she was strict and knew the boundaries she needed to give to the others.

In November 2014, Honks became ill. She developed very serious egg issues and somehow broke one of her wings. She had her wing strapped for many weeks and had a hormone implant inserted to stop her laying eggs. She got over this and forged on ruling the special needs flock in only the golden way Honky could.

August 2015 saw Honky developed egg yolk peritonitis. She had surgery for it and we nursed her for 7 weeks. She fought so hard and wanted to live so desperately. She would get better and then get worse again. I had her back to the vet and tried so many things to help her recover. At 6am on September 29, 2015, I walked in the room to see her standing up in her bed and eating. I gave her a quick cuddle and asked her how she was. I walked out of the room and then walked back in ten minutes later and she was gone. Her golden light that had burnt so brightly had gone out.

Such a determined girl, maybe I’ll never know another hen quite as determined as her. The boss lady with work to do every day. As the years went by, her anger mellowed and her big heart shone through.

About an hour or so after we buried her, I lent in to the coop awkwardly and (albeit crudely) wrote this on the perch. This was Honky’s spot. This will always be Honky’s spot. She was fiercely protective about her sleeping spot. She never left anyone else sleep on her spot and I think she’d be happy that it will always be known as her spot. Honky’s spot.

If only all chickens could leave the earth being so loved and not being hidden away from view. If only.

We didn’t want to imagine our world without this strong, independent, intelligent, hard working, soft on the inside, golden haired hen. Now we are without her and our world is so much duller for it, but so much more golden for having known her.
She was a living example of how much we all need our freedom.

We miss her golden light so very much.

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally