filmcmahon
Chirping
hello all. it is a solemn day on our backyard homestead as our most beloved and special gal, a bantam blue silkie hen, has suddenly passed.
there’s kind of a long backstory, so here it is: she lived on her own for a few months and we added 4 silkie bantam pullets in july. living on her own for so long, she did not like them very much. the first week of august, we noticed some broodiness from her. she was a year and a half, and she had been broody once before so we knew the signs. she was grumbly and nippy and despite our best efforts without putting her in a wire crate, she would not be broken for about five weeks! so within this past week we put her in a wire crate and saw lots of improvement already. her attitude towards the pullets who she lived with had changed completely, she was sweet and wouldn’t peck them. she would actually eat and drink, and her cute high pitched chirps had returned instead of low broody grumbling. each morning it seemed like the effects wore off a bit, so we put her back in. she spent the time of about three (morning to afternoon) days total in the crate (not during bedtime, and she would have breaks too for some free range time) anyways, this afternoon when i got home from school, she was dead with her neck bent sharply to the side at the back of the cage.
WARNING the pictures i have attached are of a dead hen, please don’t look if you are uncomfortable.
she was doing so well, she seemed so so healthy, this wouldve been her last day in the crate! i am so heartbroken that she didn’t get to experience being happy and friendly with her flock mates. i shouldn’t have put her in and now i deal with the consequences
has anyone had anything like this happen to them? could it really be an accidental broken neck from getting her head stuck in the cage and pulling the wrong way? it is hard to make sense of this situation when you are filled with grief and guilt so having someone else’s opinion on the situation would be great.
any ideas?
there’s kind of a long backstory, so here it is: she lived on her own for a few months and we added 4 silkie bantam pullets in july. living on her own for so long, she did not like them very much. the first week of august, we noticed some broodiness from her. she was a year and a half, and she had been broody once before so we knew the signs. she was grumbly and nippy and despite our best efforts without putting her in a wire crate, she would not be broken for about five weeks! so within this past week we put her in a wire crate and saw lots of improvement already. her attitude towards the pullets who she lived with had changed completely, she was sweet and wouldn’t peck them. she would actually eat and drink, and her cute high pitched chirps had returned instead of low broody grumbling. each morning it seemed like the effects wore off a bit, so we put her back in. she spent the time of about three (morning to afternoon) days total in the crate (not during bedtime, and she would have breaks too for some free range time) anyways, this afternoon when i got home from school, she was dead with her neck bent sharply to the side at the back of the cage.
WARNING the pictures i have attached are of a dead hen, please don’t look if you are uncomfortable.
she was doing so well, she seemed so so healthy, this wouldve been her last day in the crate! i am so heartbroken that she didn’t get to experience being happy and friendly with her flock mates. i shouldn’t have put her in and now i deal with the consequences
has anyone had anything like this happen to them? could it really be an accidental broken neck from getting her head stuck in the cage and pulling the wrong way? it is hard to make sense of this situation when you are filled with grief and guilt so having someone else’s opinion on the situation would be great.
any ideas?
