Dillys, and her twin sister Phyllis, were hatched in 2014 from one of the Welsh Black harem girls and our gorgeous boy Henry. Unlike all the other black offspring, they had flat ('normal') combs instead of pea combs. She was, like her sister, large, bolshy, inquisitive and friendly. Always pecking for attention, always tripping us up for treats.
She had been off colour, on and off, for a little while. We'd seen her a few times (not when it was this hot) with a blue tinge to her comb, and each time we've thought she was probably going to go, so it's not exactly unexpected. She looked a bit off colour again on Wednesday, and DH gave her some Nutridrops... but this time, it was the last. I don't think it was particularly the heat, although I guess that might have been the last straw.
I can't find many pictures of her (them). I found this one, which has both of them in. I can't tell them apart in the picture... I often couldn't tell them apart unless they were both in front of me at the same time. In case you can't see the combs, one of them is on the left eating from a fruit bush; the other is in the foreground looking at the slab.
I haven't told Small Person yet. I'll wait until we are chatting tonight. I would bet that, after she's interrogated me on the details of what happened and had a bit of a reminisce about Dillys, she'll ask me whether it means we can keep more girls from this year's hatch.
