Maggie Mae’s Legacy
The world outside our barn doors will say, “she was just a chicken.” But those are not our values at Kindred Farm. Thank you for making Kindred Farm a safe place in this world where all beings are loved and cared for. This is so important especially in the times we are living right now.
A little red hen snuggled her way into our hearts. She joined our farm family in July just before Camp Badger was to start. The children were drawn to her vulnerability and carried and cared for her each day of camp. They named her Maggie and we gave her the full name of Maggie Mae.
She had so many people who took care of her each day. Kindred Volunteer CV was living at the farm at the time and took extra care of her for three months. When CV left, Gail took over Maggie’s care every morning before the Animal Care Teams arrived.
I was thrilled that she was thriving with all the care and her legs were becoming stronger and stronger. She even started to lay eggs – which meant that all was in order with her internal systems. We knew a wheelchair would help her but the ones we had were too big. We just couldn’t adapt them to her small body. I decided we needed to order a wheelchair that was made to measure just for her. It finally arrived January 24th. It was a perfect fit.
Maggie Mae was given a clean bill of health in July from the vet with no issues that would prevent her from walking. This propelled us to do whatever it took to help her walk and live a full life. What none of us knew was that something was lurking in the shadows that would pop up its ugly head in February. It was a neurological issue that took her quickly.
It came on fast on a Sunday. We rallied together and brought everything to the table that we could think of. But she left us four mornings later in Gail’s arms. A peaceful passing that I think many of us would wish for ourselves.
I’ve been really struggling to put into words our collective loss of Maggie Mae. I’ve been waiting for something or someone to help me work through it. It came today in the form of a very tiny baby goat who needed two farm sanctuaries to work together to help her.
Diane Marsh at the Happy Herd reached out to me, “Do you have a small wheelchair for a new baby goat with frozen front legs?”
I replied that yes, we did and brought over our two small wheelchairs. I met baby Chile and was amazed at how tiny she was – just a few days old and the wheelchairs I brought were much too big. I drove back to Kindred to pick up Maggie Mae’s wheelchair and delivered it to Diane. You can see that it is a perfect fit – and it’s helping Chile to learn to walk!
Chile is being cared for inside Diane’s home with a little black lamb named Chloe who will keep Chile company. Just to add to Maggie Mae’s legacy, Chloe’s mom just happens to be named Maggie.
Thank you Diane and Chile for giving Maggie Mae a legacy and helping me to find comfort through an act of kindness made possible by a dear sweet chicken who left this world much too soon.
