one chook down

a couple of days ago we sadly lost one of our chooks, mymble. I don't really know what happened, over the past couple of weeks she just got really weak, and her comb went flat, and I think the heat we've had this week just proved too much for her. It's never nice finding one of your little friends dead like that. "She's sleeping", jasper said. "no, darling, she died". "oh".
I don't know what was sadder, the dog barking at the chook, trying to wake her up, or the other chook, snowy, looking back over her shoulder as she left the coop, to see if her friend was coming. After I had buried her in what is now known as the pet graveyard down the back, snowy let out the loudest, most heartfelt cry I've ever heard from a chook. She crowed for about ten minutes, a fine farewell to her sweet friend. Sensitive creatures, these chooks. there is a happy ending to this story, though. Today snowy laid the first egg we've seen in months, and was very proud of herself too, I might add. It seems that mymble's sickness must have been affecting both of them, and now snowy can get on with her own life. Either that, or it's a one-off.
The question now is, do we get another chook, to keep snowy company?