It’s been a very sad time at Mulberry Cottage. We had to say goodbye to our darling spaniel, Molly, last month and, last week, we lost Agnes – the ex-bat hen. Agnes came to us in May with three of her sisters. She was tiny and pale and missing quite a lot of feathers but she was a courageous little girl and was the very first to venture into the big outdoors when we let the new flock free-range for the first time.

And she soon got the hang of life in a country garden…

and enjoyed many sunbathing days over the summer. I’ve never seen a hen enjoying the sunshine quite so much as little Agnes.

But our sweet girl was having problems in the egg-laying department which left her feeling exhausted. Warm baths helped alleviate some of the side-effects:

And cuddles in the sunshine too:

But, despite several of these setbacks, she grew all her feathers back and turned into a most glorious hen!

I just wish that her retirement had been longer then those seven months.

Goodbye little Aggie. We miss you so very much.