[b]Chicken Menopause[b]

So a lot of us never take the time to think about how our pets are dealing with ageing. We are so caught up with our wrinkle creams, tautening and toning and doing our best to dress as lamb instead of mutton that we don’t consider why we are the only species that seems overly concerned about it all.
My favorite chicken, JFF, recently underwent ‘the change’. She went from a four egg a week girl, to an every 3 day girl, to a really can’t be bothered but I will sit on the nest anyway because I like to have a nap girl. Whilst she was lying, JFF was looking a little threadbare. Then when she hit menopause she was completely miserable. She wouldn’t even move for treats which are usually JFF’s main purpose in life. She was so listless that I became concerned that she was ’shell-stuck’. This is a nasty chicken ailment that is exactly what it sounds like. My 1940’s chicken book recommended an oiled finger to the vent to remove the offending egg shell. It was singularly the most gruesome thing I have ever done. Strangely JFF didn’t seem to mind at all; in fact she seemed quite pleased with the attention. She even strutted around a little afterwards like she had just got lucky. Turns out she wasn’t shell stuck at all but getting a bit of loving does seem to have helped her turn the corner.
Anyway the moral of the story is that although JFF was a fairly sad chicken for a week she is now back to her usual treat-pecking ways. And she has regained her former plumage. In fact she has never looked better, glossy, sleek and full of feathers. I can only hope that the very same happens for me, without the feathers though, there’s no cream for that.