Poultry Ownership and Dealing with Loss (From a Tenderhearted Farmer)

Thank you for sharing this! We have been keeping chickens (just a small backyard flock) for a little over three years. We just experienced our second loss about a week ago. It was pretty unexpected, unlike our first loss that we could tell was imminent. So it was hard in a different way. It’s helpful to hear other people’s experiences.

Very well written and stated. No matter the species, there is never a guarantee that one will live to see another day, and quality of life does matter.

So true. my friend... so true.

Good solid informative argument, thanks

Thank you for sharing this piece as I am among the many here who can relate to your story. Writing from the heart is a good way for self expression and connection. I’m not perfect but I love editing, spelling, grammar, etc. so keep up the good work there as well!

A solid and heartfelt argument as to why a "tender-hearted" backyard chicken keeper shouldn't let the possibility of loss, with all the pain that goes with it, necessarily deter them from keeping a flock.

We actually lost our first last week. What a great reminder to let chickens have their Best life, no matter how short!

Thank you for this great article! We just lost our first chicken to a fox this morning. I try to let them out to free range a little each day. It does not seem fair to keep them locked up in a little coop every day. I think with the shorter days I just let them out too early, and a fox snatched my favorite while we were getting ready for school in the morning. I agree that a shorter lifespan with many happy days is better than a longer life all cooped up. Nevertheless, I am so sad to see her gone.

What a heartfelt and raw article - thank you for writing!

Beautiful well written article! You captured everything I love about backyard chickens. My dad, raised on a farm in Iowa, was delightfully surprised at my hens’ individual personalities. He can’t believe my one hen is 9 years old! Grandma’s chickens would go to the “Campbells soup club” when they reached a certain age.
My chicks have free run of my large “suburban” backyard. I love sitting out on my patio just before dusk with my favorite cocktail just to enjoy my chickens company while they graze grass around my chair. They always beg for their “potato chips” (dried mealworms) morning and at dusk. I love my chickens!!!!

This is the hard part for me. I am overprotective, especially since I lost four to a predator. I want to keep them safely locked up but I know that really isn’t right for them.

It's hard to find words right now that do at least equal justice to the theme of this article. The last year has been rather hard on us. One of our oldest rescue fur-kids lived 7+ years(into early summer) with us to approx 13+ years old. Of our 28 chicks, we've lost 3; all for significantly different stages and reasons. The time and effort & love we pure into them all is rewarding; even though it's for a short lifespan.

Our journey into Chicken Keeping has been an emotional experience. Tenderhearted Farmer reminds us of the joy and the sorrow of raising such loved birds. We have lost 6 of our original flock that we began this summer due to multiple reasons from birth defects to disease and injury. I hurt for the loss of each unique friend, but mostly for my partner in poultry, my granddaughter. The sentiments expressed in the article echo our own beliefs that there is a silver lining that each bird was loved and cared for to the best of our ability making our experience worth while for us and our feathered friends. Thank you for giving us the words to explain that loss and sorrow are not failure, the silver lining was each day with us was a day of comfort and love.

We all feel the loss, and sometimes make mistakes but we just fix issues as found and ask advice when needed. No one way is perfect, we all have to decide what works best for our flocks, we share ideas and each one of us decides what works best for our flocks and us.

Thank you for this. I’m going to hold onto this as my sweet little pulleys get ready to move to their coop.

As someone who has lost every favored bird to predators, this really spoke to me. Very well put. Thank you.

A good look at the chicken keepers heart. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

A wonderful article to honor those we have lost.

Very good! So sorry for what happened! But you’re right, at least she was loved while she lived. And surely she knew it!