Dealing with Loss of 1st Chicken

[Debby R]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.

I cried for a day and a half after my first two deaths. You are not alone with your feelings as silly as they may seem to others. I have a wonderful friend who also has chickens that I called those first times and she really made me feel better. I hope you have a friend like that although it seems you have many friends right here. It will get better. I know your heart is broken but hang tough.

 

[livesimplecolorado]

So sorry for your loss. I am a relatively new chicken mama here but now that I have had them for awhile, they have become a part of my family.

When I say, what if one died to a friend or family member, they joke and say, oh chicken dinner and that makes me so mad. I can't even imagine it. My whole thought process has changed about these birds since having them now. They are quirky and fun and give so much more than eggs.

Hang in there. Once again, so sorry

 

[Pollita Linda]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.

I am so sorry for your pain. I cannot begin to imagine loosing one of my girls. I am so protective of them. I too have 5 girls whom are part of my family.

 

[Buttebarnyard]

So sorry for your loss♥ Some chickens are like pets & family members. It’s never easy to lose one... I think she knew how loved she was.

I had an owl kill two of my young hens not long after put them out in the coop. I feel so guilty as well because although I had covered most of the top of the enclosure I hadn't yet finished. The owl bit the head off one of my girls and there wasn't a mark on the other one so I assume a heart attack. It re ally traumatized the rest of the flock and myself. It's been several months now and of course I finished enclosing the run. I also put a camera in the coop. I am hyper vigilant with the flock and worry constantly something is going to get them. I still feel so bad for what happened in to the other two. I buried them on the back of the property. I love my chickens and don't ever want any of the others to experience that, not myself. I will remain watchful and hopeful. Thanks for sharing

 

[Padfoot22]

I can truly sympathize with your frustration and sadness over your loss. I’ve had a small flock (6) backyard chickens for 5 years now. My husband had a much larger flock (20) on our plant nursery for 4 years prior to this. He was very “farm oriented” with the flock and had the ideology that chickens look for ways to die, he didn’t get attached and didn’t name them so if one died he wasn’t upset. When I got my original flock of backyard chickens I named them and immediately got attached. Especially to an Easter Egger who was very friendly. Of course, she was the first to get attacked by a neighbor’s dog that got in our fence while they were free ranging. She was very injured, suffering so my husband helped her pass on. But it really hurt terribly and I felt like I failed my flock. We upgraded the security around the yard which has helped but has not helped when they get diseases that I don’t notice in time which has accounted for the majority of my chickens deaths since then. They die so quickly from some things that I don’t know what they died from.
So it’s good to educate yourself on diseases and home remedies and other medications and find a local avian vet but be prepared that in some cases death may be inevitable. We can do all we can to keep and care for these beautiful birds but accidents, predators or illness do happen. Try not to blame yourself. I think they know how much we care on a daily basis.

 

[LeeWren]

So sorry for your loss -- I live in the middle of a big city but we have hawks and peregrines (not to mention coyotes) and my Barred Rock pullet suffered a hawk attack. Neck flayed down to her breast and wattle on the left hanging by a thread. As I live in a city I was able to scoop her up and google After Hours Emergency Vet for Poultry and found an open clinic about a half hour away. I think it was the vet's first chicken but she was a bird expert and sewed my gal up (17 stitches) and she fully recovered (even the wattle) and is now seven years old. I fondly call her my $600 chicken...I know that's not what everyone can do, find a vet and get the animal to the vet, never mind afford the vet fees. I feel blessed that I can.

 

[Ladies of the Forest]

Losing a chicken is always devastating, but “the first cut is the deepest” pretty much says it all. I’m so sorry for you and your birds. Know that I’m sending you all some love right now. We always feel guilty, but Mother Nature is in charge, not you. Birds are extremely loving to each other, and when we see that, it makes us love them even more, making it harder and harder to think of them as just birds. They are family to each other, and if we’re lucky enough, they’ll be family to us, too. As my vet said in a sympathy card to me after he had to put down one of my guinea hens, “I firmly believe that any animal can capture our hearts and deserve our love, and you and Lily are proof of that.” Birds reach our hearts as easily as any dog or cat. Be in your grief and it will lessen. Be safe

 

[donnavee]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.

I got my first chickens in 2009 and wasn't prepared for how attached I would become. We lost the first one when she was around 7 months old, no idea why, just found her dead in the coup. I had been sitting with them during a free range time the evening before and she seemed fine. Anyway, I cried an entire day and a half over that sweet girl. At times I thought about how odd it was that people eat chickens every day and here I was crying like a baby over the loss of one. Your post brought back those memories and even a tear. I am so sorry you had to see your girl in such pain but she died being cared for.

 

[TwoCrows]

I am so sorry for your loss. I was not fully prepared for my first chicken loss, I knew I was attached but not so much to shatter my heart like it did. They really do get intertwined in our hearts and it hurts to lose them. You would think it gets easier with each bird, but it doesn't for me. Don't beat yourself up over things you did or did not do, it's a waste of energy. They know they are loved and were given the best life possible. Even after death, they still know they are loved.

 

[MamaBear2016]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.
[/Q

I know how you feel. Sorry for your lost. i lost 2 of my girls too it hurt so bad i was the same way but a weasel got mine .the second one was hanging on and i tried to keep her safe and doctor her up too but she died in front of me and my son. i still miss my girls they wear the best hens that made happy but my other 2 hens and my boys (roos) they all mourn for them. people say animals don't mourn well those people don't have a heart i still miss Lipstick and Blondie my girls and one of my other hens she didn't lay for a few months i loved her up telling her everything is going to be ok .and time to time i would see her at thier grave it broke my heart and it still does hurt your story brought more tears to me like i was when i lost my girls