R.I.P. "Big Connie"

Our very old Araucana chicken, "Big Connie" died today and I buried her in the backyard. She had been getting progressively weaker and we had to isolate her from the other hens, for they would attack her rather viciously. She used to be the top on the pecking order, but with her arthritis, deformed foot, and aging, she fell to the bottom of the pecking order.

She used to lay bluish-green eggs, but had not laid many eggs in the past two years. We didn't feel comfortable just killing her off for lack of productivity, so she died comfortably and at a quite advanced age. We weren't sure how old she was when we got her, but we've had her for almost six years. She may have been around four years old when we got her, so she had a long life for a chicken.

Here's a photo: