Araucana thread anyone?

[Beth G.]

Oh No Soo sorry to hear this!

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[cackleberrycoop]

ndoels, I'm sorry you lost your roo. That's very sad and I know how you feel - I've been there too many times. I'm so sorry!
Will you open him up to try and figure out what happened? I remember going to a poultry heath seminar once and listening to an expert talking about the most common causes of death in chickens and how to determine what it was that went wrong, etc. I was surprised when he said, "And of course, in chickens, perfectly healthy, well cared for and robust birds sometimes just die. On necropsy in these cases there is no apparent reason for death." I usually open a bird up and try to figure out what happened, so I know if there is something that I need to address with regards to the rest of the flocks safety, but I always remember that expert when I don't find any reason for the death.

 

[ndoles]

I buried him right after I found him...couldn't bear to look at him...but he had been the picture of health. The others in his pen didn't know what to do last night when it was time to go to bed, since he always lead them in...I had to coax them in the coop..

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[cashdl]

Norma,

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. The Araucana is a real pain in the backside breed. If its not one thing its another. I think part of it too is they are soo rare, and once we get one or a few, we feel like we have accomplished something great just gettting that far. So when one dies, it really is a major set back breeding wise, on top of how invested our emotions become over this funny little breed of chicken. They are so easy to fall in love with. I hope your breeding program recovers quickly and that no one else dies on you.

Lanae

 

[ndoles]

Thanks, everyone for your show of sympathy...It really does help. It's good to have kindred spirits to vent to..

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Due to a buyer that was less than honest or trustworthy, I still own my last 5 Araucanas. I have decided to hang on to them. I hatched very little from them this year and sold all the chicks so I now plan to hatch more next spring and make sure I keep some lovelies for myself again.
I would sure miss my beauties if they were gone and the roo has the most beautiful crow. The 3 blue hens are very sweet and let me pet them. The black hen is stand offish but when you are a tufted black beauty I guess you can be stuck up!

I usually lurk on this thread and post very little. I enjoy seeing what everyone produces every year. Keep posting and I keep

!!!!!

 

[FLGardenguy]

Is there a book or video out there to help if i wanted to do and after death inspection? I too lost my favorite black doubled hen the other day...it looked like she just sneezed and fell of her perch in the middle of the night..she was almost ten so it was probably old age or a heart attack..but it would be nice to be able to know what i'm looking for. I had a hen that was sick for almost 6 months and never knew what happened..i'm sure if i had the knowledge and guts to do it i'd probably at least know what happened...thanks guys.

 

[cackleberrycoop]

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"The Chicken Health Handbook" by Gail Damerow has a helpful chapter "Postmortem Examination." I've learned a lot from that book!
A ten year old hen - way to go.

 

[FLGardenguy]

Thanks so much.

 

[Stacykins]

Abe is growing up to be such a handsome gentlemen! He looks just like Smoothmule's boy Degas