RIP Lilja

When I opened up the Nest House this morning, I made a sad discovery. It was Lilja, laying on her side on the Nest House floor. I suspect she passed away in her sleep last night. She showed no signs of being ill over the past few days so it was quite a shock. Lilja was holding her own with the other bigger personalities in the flock and appeared to be Tommy’s second in command on Friday.

Lilja was hatched by Phil and Steve. The breeder accidentally put in a Swedish Flower Hen egg into the Leghorn eggs they had ordered. When the eggs hatched, Lilja stuck out like a sore thumb. As Steve and Phil wanted to breed the leghorns, they kindly have Lilja to me. I gave her the name Lilja because it means Lily in Swedish.

She was always rather flighty and shy, not one of the larger personalities in the flock. But nonetheless, she will be missed. Lilja was by far the best flier and the best sprinter. She had more legs than is fair for a chicken – especially when you tried to catch her and she didn’t want to be caught!

Swedish Flower Hens are the equivalent of moggies and mongrels and come in all shapes, sizes and colours. I was always rather taken with Lilja’s grey and white stippled colouring. Her large comb was always flopping to one side and would turn a beautiful red when she was in lay. Her eggs was large white ones which always stood out from the usual mix of browns and greens.

Lilja was a beautiful chicken and we will miss her antics in the coop.