Farewell, My Ladies

We decided to say goodbye to our hens since we are going back to Japan for a while. The hens originally belonged to my mother-in-law who is now deceased, but we (myself, my husband, and our son) have been taking care of them for the past two years.

At first, I thought they were all pretty much the same. But as I tended to their needs each day, I began to understand their individual personalities, and it became kind of fun to me.

Jenny Rose

The strongest and most fearless, so she is the boss. She’s very simple-minded… whenever she sees food, she pounces and devours it! But, she is a very responsible boss. She sat next to one of the other hens and protected her when she was injured during a hawk attack.

Helga

She is timid and always follows the boss. Even so, she bullies other hens. When she was injured, the boss Jenny Rose watched over her until help came.

Yui

Yui came to Magnolia Bend later than the others, and she was the youngest. Being the smallest, slowest, and most timid, everyone took her food. Helga in particular bullied her a lot.

My mother-in-law had asked us to give her a Japanese name.

Yuki-san

Yuki-san was thrown into the mix to help Yui, the bullied hen. She is relatively large and young. She had a longer name originally, but we couldn’t remember it. Her calm and composed demeanor reminded us of an older lady we know, so we gave her the name “Yuki-san.”

Hana

Hana joined the flock at the same time as Yui. She was also timid and bullied by others at first, but at some point she developed an strange aura and established a unique position within the pecking order. So lately, we took to calling her “Miss Mysterious.”

Everyone is moving together to their new home. We’ve been taking care of them every morning and evening for a long time now, so we will miss them.

Take care, everyone. Don’t let yourself get bullied by the other hens!

The gentleman in the middle took them for us. He has forty hens!!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKt6OsEsP08/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

ニワトリさんたちとお別れ

日本にしばらく帰るため、ニワトリさんたちとお別れすることにしました。もともとは亡くなったお義母さんのニワトリたちだったのですが、この2年は私をはじめ、夫、息子の三人で世話をしていました。

最初はニワトリなんてみんな似たようなもんだと思ってたのですが毎日世話しているうちにそれぞれの性格がわかってきてなかなか楽しかったです。

ジェニーローズ

怖いものなしの最強のボス 単純なので食べ物を見ると、とにかく一番に食いつく。 しかしボスとしての責任感もあり、ほかのニワトリが傷ついたときは近くでずっと見守っていた。

ヘルガ

気が弱いくせに、ボスの後にくっついて他をいじめるスネ夫みたいな感じ。 ケガをした時、ボスのジェニーローズに見守られていた

ゆい

後から入ってきた一番若いと思われる子。体が一番小さいうえに、とろくて気が弱いのでよくみんなに餌をとられていた。特にヘルガからは執拗にいじめられていた。お義母さんに頼まれて日本語の名前に。

ゆきさん

いじめられっ子を助けるために投入された体の大きめの若い子。長い英語の名前があったけれど覚えられず。 落ち着きがあり、悠々としているその姿が、知り合いのおばあちゃんを思わせるので、その名前をいただいて「ゆきさん」と呼んでいた。

はな

ゆいと一緒に入ってきた。同じく気が弱くいじめられていたけれど、いつしか一人で異様な雰囲気を出すようになり、みんなとは少し一線を画していた。それで最近は「ミステリアスさん」と呼んでいた。

みんな仲良くお引越し。毎日朝晩世話してたので、子供のようとまではいかなくとも、別れるのはさみしいものです。 みんな元気でね。ほかのニワトリたちにいじめられませんように。

真ん中のおじいちゃんが引き取ってくれました。お家に40羽も鶏がいるそうです。