Coping With Death In Your Flock: 4 Actionable Steps

Excellent article taking us through grief into some practical steps to learn what we can and make things better in the future. Thank you! It's a well written warm hearted article.

Thanks for writing this article. It gave me a warm feeling to read it. I hope my English is good enough to express myself in the right way because I’m not English and not a language crack.

As a kid growing up on a farm I learned I was different in my feelings for animals. For me they where living creatures just like humans. My family cared only until a certain point. They were more practical. And didn't ‘waste’ time on sick animals like farm cats and livestock.

e.g. A chick in a flock that had health problems had little chance to survive. My older brother intervened by smashing the little chick against the wall. It broke my heart.

There are more stories like the one above. It made me sad, mad and build my character. And I didn't trust vets anymore.

I have learned there are two kind of people if you could divide them into groups. There are a lot of us who care about their animals, their livestock as some name it.
And there are a lot of people with some kind of ignorance about livestock. That's one of the reasons why its sometimes hard to deal with losses. These people don't seem to understand what you are going through with a loss. The people who don’t care much if they ‘need’ to cull a bird.

Since my childhood years have passed. And my feelings have changed a little over the years ( a bit more practical). If I have a dead fish, rabbit or chick I feel responsible for, I get over it quickly now. I don't feel guilty anymore because I didn't do it on purpose. If I have chicks, I know I can't keep the cockerels and will give them away for free without asking too many questions.

I try to keep my flock healthy. I give them enough space. Let them free range a few hours a day if possible, to make them happy scratching for fresh nutritious bites ? ? ? and eating grasses and herbs of they're own choice.

I rather not buy new chickens, because they can bring diseases into my flock. Instead I buy fertile eggs for a broody, or keep a rooster for that reason until he gets too loud early mornings.

This article is one of the best I've ever read! I haven't had any too recent losses, but every point in here is true.

I absolutely agree with the part about mourning for chickens. There is no such thing as "just a chicken", and you shouldn't let anybody else convince you so.

For any future readers of this article: don't blame yourself. Despite your loss continue on, even when you want to give up, because you will regret that later. Here's free hugs for anybody who needs them

This article is amazing we will at some point or another have losses but what the author states is true, a lot of us do show more compassion to others and our animals than ourselves, and as hands on as most back yard flocks are it hits us big time. It is looking for the positive in a situation we are hurting from in the first place. We as humans keep learning I believe until the day we die theres always something to be learned if you can get past the emotional.

I remember one time when I was a youngster and dad gave me a cow to raise, I saw her as a pet and really excited he thought I was responsible enough to raise her but dad saw her as a food source for leaner times. Well I did a good job she had 2 calves and as a pet I was so connected to her that when she was in trouble I knew even clear out in the barn in the middle of the night in a blizzard. Her calf was breach and she had to have help, well after waking up a irritated dad and him and grandpa went out and checked so I would shut up, then spending the time to help her, the next time I said dad Peachy is in trouble, they just got up and went and helped.

The following year work was slow for both parents so dad made the call to process Peachy and her 2 calves to put food on the table for us kids. Dad was so mad, because I was angry he'd killed my cow and her babies that I had worked so hard to raise and raise right I refused to eat at the house for almost 2 years if it contained meat. I was young and inexperienced and dad forgot to explain that we would possibly be eating that calf he'd given to me to raise assuming I just knew it would be that way.

Great article!

If you’ve raised animals for any length of time, this article will help you get through the inevitable learning curve of losing some. Well done, and thanks for a great read.

one lesson from this, always be responsible!

Thank you! I needed to hear this.

This is a awesome article!

Well written and insightful!

Thank you for writing this. I lost my Barred Rock pullet yesterday and I’m gutted. She is the third chicken I have lost in less than two years and my heart is broken. I did all I could for her and it still wasn’t enough.

During my first year of keeping chickens, I've been loosing several every month. It turned out that the CL man who sold them to me was breeding an unhealthy flock. I spent thousands on vet bills, only to bury them a couple months later. They died of anemia and congenital disorders. These losses were so hard on me that they actually changed me- I stopped caring for how i look, became withdrawn and prone to crying when thinking of my girls. Now looking back, the loss of my chickens was far more traumatic than divorce, break up, betrayal etc. The worst was when my dogs broke the fencing and tore apart 5 chickens. I came back home with my children and saw mutilated bodies of the birds that I loved so much. We were burying these poor chickens and even the meanest neighborhood boys were crying. I now have a double fence, buy only healthy chickens, if i notice any problems, go to the vet and demand an antibiotic. Sometimes chickens develop cancer or the could have congenital disorders. It really is not your fault.

This is an important topic. The death of a chicken, pet or not can come as a major shock. Sometimes one doesn't realise the attachment made until the creature dies.
I would have liked to read something about dealing with with the death of a chicken that the keeper has killed.
I would also liked the author to deal with the disposal of the body. Something i struggle with is if the chicken was healthy, should I eat it.

thank you!

This article should be a must-read for soft-hearted chicken keepers who feel awful about losing a bird ... or two ... or more. Life happens. Death does, too. When we feel as though we coulda/shoulda/oughta have known, this article helps validate the loss and move on. Nicely done!

Thanks for writing on this subject

A very good article, written with a lot of compassion.