When Your chicken(s) die...

You are as sensitive as me and it hurts when we lose a pet. My dad always did what I thought was unthinkable when one died he would get me another pet, one that no one wanted. Saving an animal who no one loves is a way to honor the one you lost. It helps alot.

I lost a cockatiel once. I have never lost a chicken, luckily.

Our Brownie died two months ago. She was 5. We all still feel the lost and sadness. It’s much quieter here now.
Brownie was always the first one to run to me when I whistled for them. Sometimes she would fly and cackle when she approached. She also liked to “help” in the garden. She was especially helpful with digging up potatoes. She was also always the first one to try any treats and got into places they weren’t suppose to be, like the bordered-off vegetable beds.

She hated being picked-up, that when I put her down she would shake herself really hard. I timed it so that when I put her down I would say, “ Shake, Brownie, Shake” and she would shake. It looked like I trained her to do it.

I know my husband misses her also, especially when he feeds them in the mornings. I think the other chickens miss her too, especially Grey, our alpha hen who grew up with Brownie. Brownie always slept with her head under Grey, and Grey let Brownie eat with her and rarely pecked her.
Goldie used to peck on Brownie a lot. Now she‘s got no one to peck.

We’re all still adjusting to the flock change.

5. Make a nice Gravy and honor the bird at the last meal.

Seriously though, yah it sucks, and when we get real attached to our pets it makes it worse, because we treated them like family. I can't find the link, and it would absolutely not be sfw anyways but an author Mark Manson did a book on this, I think it was called the monkey theory or something.

It basically says, if we have ONE pet, we love it to death, would have a funeral for it when it dies, it's loss crushes us etc. IF we have two pets, we love them the same, and would feel about as bad when one goes. If we have 3 pets, the love is split around a bit, 5 pets, we'd feel bad when one goes, 10 pets, we'd sigh and dispose of it when it dies. 25 pets, we'd be perturbed because it's taking time out of our day to be rid of this carcass.

Basically he explains it as, we have a set Quantity of caring. When we get one pet, they get that entire glass of love and care, 2, they split it, 50, each gets a tiny sip, etc, which is why farmers for example who may have hundreds of chickens, when one dies, they don't break down and are incapacitated when it kicks it. that one chicken simply does not drain enough 'care' from the glass to elicit that response. Sure you feel bad it died but, just not THAT bad.

It makes sense, and there are some here, who go into all sorts of fits and conniptions when someone just does not 'care' as much as 'they' did when an animal goes into that big food mixer in the sky. It's all about perspective. Really... it is !!

Aaron