It’s almost time.......

[Chookchicken]

It’s almost time to say goodbye.

Im going to start this story of at the beginning......
Almost three months ago we hatched two beautiful polish chicks Wednesday and April. Wednesday is and was a healthy chick, April on the other hand was born with a leg deformity. We tried splinting it but that didn’t work and she just ended up being unhappy (as seen in the following)

We decided we were gonna take her to vet the and get her put down. The day came we were gonna put her down she was looking sickly so we took of her splint we decided if she was gonna die she would die with her sister and her mother (her absolute favourite chickens in the world) we couldn’t take her away from her mum she was just so happy with her. After we took the splint of we left her with her mother, she didn’t die in fact she ended up thriving. As she has developed I’ve noticed she isn’t growing feathers under wings leaving her skin exposed. I still didn’t think she was gonna make but I saw no need in taking her to the vet if she was enjoying her life and isn’t in pain. I thought I’d let nature take its course. Over the last 2 weeks I’ve noticed her sleeping a lot more then she used to, today she didn’t even come down on her own. Her sisters and fellow flock members have spent today saying goodbye, her mother is making sad chicken noises......
I know it’s almost time for her to leave us. I’m not going to stop this process from happening I know it needs to happen. I want to give her as much of a chicken like life as possible so part of that is sharing her story and giving her a name April (we gave it to her when she was little as a way to make her like any normal chicken). Some people may disagree about me keeping her and not putting her down, but she loves her family and she couldn’t leave them without getting stressed and chirping like a wild thing. She’s happy she has enjoyed everything life has given her, but at some point everything needs to come to an end and I can tell she doesn’t have very long left.

April more recently.........

 

[cherrynberry]

Sorry to hear that. I believe that putting her down or not is plainly your choice. So do whatever you want, but yeah hope she can make it but by your description it sounds like she may not...

 

[Chookchicken]

Sorry to hear that. I believe that putting her down or not is plainly your choice. So do whatever you want, but yeah hope she can make it but by your description it sounds like she may not...

As much as I love her she isn’t keeping up with the others and I am considering putting her down if she does continue. She is a lot of extra work and needs a lot of extra attention. It’s sad but it’s life

 

[cherrynberry]

As much as I love her she isn’t keeping up with the others and I am considering putting her down if she does continue. She is a lot of extra work and needs a lot of extra attention. It’s sad but it’s life

True, with splay legged chicks they start to bruise their feet over time. I probably wont be able to/not know how to deal with that either

 

[Aunt Angus]

I feel for you... I would not want to make that decision...

I would take her, but I am pretty sure you are far away. There is a sanctuary in town that works with these cases. But if her quality of life is poor, I understand your decision. Thank you for giving her a good life.

 

[Chookchicken]

Update: to everyone’s confusion (including my flock) she didn’t die in fact she was up and running around that same afternoon. We decided to try and let her sleep downstairs rather then making her sleep on the perch, she slept well and assent very sickly anymore. Even though I am still not entirely convinced she is going to survive and a step in the right direction. Doing that has taken some of the work of me and has overall made her easier to take care off. As much as putting her down would be what I would do I have other family members to disagree and want to make her better. I’ll keep you updated if anything else happens. This is such a roller coaster.

 

[Chookchicken]

Update (again): it’s saddens me to say that she passed away in her sleep last night. The week leading up to her death she spent a lot of time sleeping. Her mother is sad but she has been saying goodbye to April for the last week. Some of my family members are heartbroken and I understand why. It’s sad that she left us and is no longer with us but it’s also a relief no more climbing into the back of there coop at night to put her upstairs with the others, no more worrying about her whenever we leave the house, and no more opening the door just to watch her be to tired to come down in the morning. RIP April you will most certainly be remembered.

 

[WhiskeyShadow]

I'm so sorry for your loss! You gave her the best life you could while she was here <3