Now, all our rescue hens are precious, but some touch your heart in a special way and Ella was one of those girls. Losing Ella was particularly hard as it came just two weeks after losing her sister, Winnie.

One of our Thrush Green flock – named after characters from Miss Read’s wonderful novels – Ella came to Mulberry Cottage to begin her retirement in May 2014 and she was in a bit of a state with bald patches all over her body. But she made her presence known with her very loud bawping. You could always tell when Ella was around – she was the most vocal hen I’ve ever met!

Luckily, Ella grew most of her feathers back in time for her first winter!

But I made sure she had plenty of warm cuddles just to be on the safe side!

Always curious, always adventurous, Ella discovered that you could reach the elderberries if you jumped onto one of the nest boxes!

But life wasn’t always fun. There were a few health problems including trouble with egg laying and a horrible sinus infection which blew up the left-hand side of her face. So in she came for extra care and attention.

As this summer came to an end, our Ella began to slow down, taking little naps during the day and fluffing up her feathers so that she resembled a splendid golden football. I knew her time was approaching but it didn’t make the goodbye any easier.

Goodnight darling Ella. You were so special to us and were so much a part of life at Mulberry Cottage. We’ll miss you forever.