Hi all, This is only my second or third post here, I'm pretty new so I should "officially" say Hi I had to share with you my horrible luck lately with my chooks. I know, it's not a nice thing to share, but I was hoping maybe some BYC members may have had similar experiences at times with their chickens, because I feel downright cursed at the moment! I would say I am relatively new to keeping chickens, and I am learning through experience, like anyone, how to better take care of them and ensure their safety. The last few weeks has been a steep learning curve for me. I posted a thread here at BYC about 5 weeks ago about a chook I brought home from work with a broken leg and if she would recover, or need to be put down. My bad luck started here when my mother-in-law let her dog loose one afternoon and the dog pushed through the mesh and into the injured chooks pen. The chook had all but vanished (no evidence that it was eaten). Almost a two weeks later, I found my little Silkie, Phyliss, dead when I got home from work. I usually leave the coop door open for my hens and rooster so my hens can come back in and lay their eggs when they need to. Phyliss had been staying in the coop, not too interested to go outside. We had a litter of four pups at our farm at the time, waiting to find homes, all about 8 weeks old and getting into mischief as they do, so I would assume they cornered Phyliss and played with her during the day, resulting in her dying. A bit over a week later, Yesterday in fact, we had to put down my sweet old hen, founding member of my flock, "Tookey" (that's her in my profile pic to the left). It turned out she had flystrike. Now this afternoon, my half-bantam rooster, Steggle, that I've had for maybe 6 weeks, seems to have disappeared after my normal routine of letting him and his ladies out to free-range for the day this morning . You experienced chicken owners no doubt see how all of these losses could have been avoided, and I myself can now in hindsight see the mistakes I've made. I love my chooks and I feel like I have let them down somewhat. On a positive note, one of my hens is broody, and whilst all of this has been happening, she has been sitting on fertile eggs for about two weeks now, so I am expecting some chicks around the 10th of December . That's the reason I got my roo, Steggle. I want to give these little chickens the best chance when they hatch. I really don't want to be making mistakes with them! Sorry for the long post, feeling sorry for myself. Just had to vent .
Welcome to BYC! It sounds like you really have had a rough go at it! Just remember to learn from your mistakes, as we all do. Wishing you good luck with your broody and her eggs!!!
Welcome to BYC! Sorry you've been having a rough time. We all make mistakes, but you're learning, we all are and always improving our methods. I hope you have a good hatch!
Thank you . Yes I have sure learnt from losing these hens and my rooster. My three remaining girls are doing well, and my broody is well...the broodiest and most feistiest thing I have ever seen. The way she comes tearing out of the coop to have a peck and a dust bath every so often is hilarious lol. She'll be a good mum. I will definitely be posting some pictures of her and the chicks when they hatch into the world next week .
