Henrietta The Hen Who Showed Up At Herndon Home Dies Suddenly In Montgomery County, MD

HERNDON, VA — Henrietta the Hen, who appeared mysteriously one day last December in Tas Robin's garage in Herndon, died recently at her new home in Montgomery County, Maryland.

When Henrietta first showed up, Robin contacted the Fairfax County Animal Shelter, which told her she could hang onto the hen until the owners were found or they could send out an animal control officer to pick it up. The owner of the hen would then have 30 days to claim it from the shelter.

At first, Robin decided to keep Henrietta. She was concerned that with the avian flu spreading through the region's domestic bird population, the hen might be euthanized.

A woman from Montgomery County, Maryland, contacted Robin after seeing the Patch article about Henrietta. The woman, who had a large, fenced-in yard, and owned a flock of about 10 hens and some ducks, offered to take care of Henrietta. The woman told Robin she could visit Henrietta whenever liked.

As someone who suffers from migraines and chronic fatigue, Robin thought that was the best solution and gave Henrietta to the other woman.

"I called her the weekend before last and I said, 'Hey, I have some treats for Henrietta and I would like to come and visit,'" Robin told Patch on Monday. "And she said, 'I'm sorry. Henrietta passed away last weekend.'"

Robin remembered the woman telling her when she dropped Henrietta off on Jan. 4 that she had lost hens before.

"One of her hens was taken by a fox and a raccoon came by one day and decapitated all her hens and her backyard was like a bloody massacre," Robin said.

Related: Lost Hen Looking For Her Flock Shows Up At Herndon Woman's Home

Usually, if a bird is taken by a hawk or another animal, feathers would be left behind as signs of a struggle, according to Robin. But the Maryland woman told her there was no evidence of foul play in Henrietta's death, because it had only been a short time between when the hen had died and when the woman discovered her.

"I asked her if she she was sick, because the entire time Henrietta was with our family, she was very healthy and very active and very energetic and laying eggs and eating OK," Robin said. "And she said, 'Well, I don't think that she was sick because none of the other hens are sick.' She doesn't think that it's an illness."

Before Henrietta's untimely death, the hen had settled into her new life in Maryland, according to Robin.

"What I learned is that hens are very cliquey," she said. "So, this woman, she had a set of three older hens and then she went out and she bought four younger hens. So three older hens were hanging out together and four younger hens were hanging out together. When Henrietta joined in, she was kind of her own and ... one of the younger hens was constantly bullying her. That goes on for maybe three or four days or a week before there's no hazing anymore."

One of the Maryland woman's ducks is nicknamed "Switzerland," because he always intervenes whenever the hens aren't getting along. He'd come to Henrietta's rescue a few times, according to the woman.

Related: Raising Backyard Chickens In Herndon: 5 Things To Know

"She called Henrietta a 'Peacekeeper,' just like her duck Switzerland, because she said that Henrietta did the same thing," Robin said. "I guess once she was done with the hazing, she was the one keeping peace."

In January, Robin was contacted by a woman from Herndon for Hens, a local group promoting backyard chicken keeping. She offered to take in Henrietta. But by that time, the hen was already at her new home in Maryland.

Robin shared the news of Henrietta's death with the woman from Herndon for Hens. She invited Robin to visit the three hens that she keeps in her backyard if it would make her feel better.

"I think I will do that," Robin said, on Monday. "The treats I had for Henrietta, I will probably just take those to her hens now."