09/07/2026
Tonight, I’m sitting here with a heart that feels a little heavier than usual. 💔
We lost “Old Blue”.
And honestly… this one hurts.
There are chickens that are part of your flock, chickens that contribute to your breeding program, and then there are those rare ones that somehow become part of you.
Blue was one of those.
He was a big, beautiful Marans rooster, but it was his gentle spirit that made him so special. Blue was never aggressive. He never needed to prove that he was the boss. He simply carried himself with this quiet confidence that made you respect him.
He always wanted to be involved in whatever I was doing. If I was working around the flock, there was Blue. If I was checking on the birds, there was Blue. Somehow, that big ol' rooster always seemed to find his way over to see what I was up to. ❤️
And I'll never forget the way he handled the younger cockerels.
They would challenge him. They'd puff themselves up, strut around, and try to show him what they were made of. And Blue would let them.
He could have absolutely destroyed them if he wanted to. But he didn't.
He would stand there and let those young boys learn their lessons without ever truly hurting them.
That was Blue.
Strong enough to fight, but gentle enough not to.
Blue had already been retired from our breeder pens, but his story here was far from finished. He played a very significant role in our Pink Project, and I'm incredibly thankful that his genetics will continue forward through that line.
So in a way, he isn't completely gone.
A little piece of Blue will continue in the birds we raise, in the generations that come after him, and in the beautiful eggs that will carry his genetics forward.
But tonight, I'm not thinking about genetics.
I'm not thinking about breeding plans.
I'm just thinking about a big, gentle rooster who always wanted to be part of whatever I was doing.
And I'm going to miss him.
Sometimes we raise animals for a purpose, but somewhere along the way, they become so much more than that.
They become part of the story.
Blue was a part of ours.
Thank you for everything you gave us, Old Blue. Thank you for your beautiful genetics, your beautiful offspring, and most of all, for simply being you.
You were a good boy. A very, very good boy.
Fly high, sweet Blue. 🐓💙
You will be missed here at A Wing And A Prayer Homestead more than words can say. 🙏🏻🪽
