Kot-kot is gone

I can't believe that a day like this will come soon. I know one day it will happen but not so soon. My dear kot-kot is no more. Truly, a bird at hand is worth two in the forest. What will happen to her chicks, eight of them. Innocent chicks will have to be alone and feel the cold weather alone. Who will be there to keep them warm and protect them from predators? Chick do not worry, I will be there for you.

Today was nice until evening when something unprecedented happened. We used to have a hen that has lived with us for two years now, her name is kot-kot. She is a mother of countless chicks, so fruitful that she lays eight to ten eggs each time she's fertile.

Kot-kot came as a chick when my mom bought her from the market. She was so beautiful, calm and lovely and has lived happily with us. Every morning she wakes up, she stays and hangs around the door until someone gives her breakfast. Her first number of chicks hatched was five and since then, she has been hatching eight to ten chicks. She was really caring and protective of her chicks. Kot-kot has produced more than fifty chicks in her lifetime since she started laying eggs. Her chicks have spread around the house and even some neighbors who loved them adopted them..

Today I just can't believe she's no more. She has eight chicks she's nurturing now and they are just three weeks old. So small and naive to the environment. Kot-kot fought hard to survive but she gave up today in the morning. What bad news for my family and especially her chicks.

What happened to her.

"On the third of this month, she got back home looking so cold. Her chicks were complete in numbers and she was just quiet and not eating much. When I first saw it, I thought she had fought her way from the predators roaming the sky. "She must be tired after a hard day" I imagined.

That same day as I watched her closely, she didn't go out again and slowly responded to my calling. When I called her, it was her chicks that answered and after I fed them, kot-kot called them back with her sounds. I concluded that she was tired and weak from whatever fight she had gone through.

Hulks and kites are always roaming the sky in search of food and kot-kot's chick happens to be a better prey. She has to give in all she had to protect them from these harsh predators. This time around, I imagined she was into a real war with maybe kites or wild animals. Nobody knows what happened to her or what she has been through.

The next day which was the fourth of this month, she woke up and was there in front of the door to be fed as usual. She was sound and looked healthy, as she ate the beans I kept for them. They had their fill and left for walk around the compound and the premises. In the evening, she came back with all her kids and was looking weak again. I called her for her dinner and she came with her kids but was looking weak as she stood. I saw that she ate a little with her eyes closed. Her chicks were busy having dinner but she was standing and looked sleepy as she fed slowly.

At that point in time, I realized she is sick. I quickly informed my parents and told them everything I discovered from the previous day. We concluded to wait until tomorrow morning before calling an avian veterinarian. My mom gave her some quick medication to keep her cool till the next day.

This morning, kot-kot came out but wasn't looking bright at all. After giving them breakfast, they went out as usual for a walk and that was the last time I set my eyes on her. Through afternoon till evening it has been her chicks around the compound. I thought she was taking a rest because that's when her chicks moved around without her. After a short time of not seeing her, I began to suspect that she must be badly sick. I searched for her but didn't find her. It was already getting late but the avian veterinarian has not yet come. I tried to keep a close watch at kot-kot but I couldn't find her.

After some minutes of searching, I watched the chicks assemble at a spot. They were just there without their mother. I noticed that each one leaves and comes back to that same spot and I suspiciously thought that their mother should be there or around there.

I went searching for the last time and I found kot-kot lying helplessly on the ground between two bricks under a rubber tank. She's dead already! I felt so bad as I took her up and looked at her chicks. Poor chicks would follow me with their mother as I took it to another corner of the compound. I didn't know what to do and felt like crying but that wouldn't solve it. She's dead already and nothing can be done by the avian veterinarian".

I lost my kot-kot to a strange sickness! This is sad and pains me more when I look at the eighth chicks she left for me. I just hope I can take care of them and make them comfortable like their mother would.

The chicks are now safe in a cage, they are still too young to lose their mother. They really do not deserve it. My kot-kot is gone!

@Gianna-B, 2022

Lead image credit: taken from unsplash.com