Chicken loss and grieving

[mullys]

You're not too soft. Besides, a kind heart like yours makes for the best pet owners. It's easy to feel like a failure with chickens, but in your case, I think you've been pretty successful. There are just so many things that can go wrong, and I know that doesn't make it any easier to accept. I would just try not to think about the "length" of their lifetime, because no matter how long they live, it still won't be long enough, especially when they're beloved pets. Think instead about their "quality" of life, and all the joys you shared together right up to the end... that's what matters.

I haven't experienced what you have, but I lost my first hen last winter when I was negligent in locking up for the night and my birds roosted on the fence instead. I found her body in the morning, partially left behind from an unknown predator, and I was devastated. I was also worried that the loss would affect my 6 year old daughter at school, so I talked to the counselor there to give a heads up. As I was explaining the story I broke down, and she handed me tissues and had me sit down. We talked for an hour or more then she sent me home with children's books to help my "daughter" deal with the grief. I read them all and they were quite helpful.

On a side note I'm curious... if your flock really is infected with infectious bronchitis, why would it be recommended to start over with chickens from the same source? As far as I understand, once IB is eradicated from the premises, it should just be gone. I think I would give chickens another try... maybe with birds from a hatchery or different breeder.

I really am so sorry you have to go through all this. I wish your heart peace

Thank you for your support and kindness. I didn't word my post well. Our girls all came from different sources. If we were to start over we were told to get them all from one breeder. But most of our hens came from breeders ? What is to prevent us getting IB again? Is it wrong to get more hens if we do have this virus?It seems unethical, but the hens could go to people who will harvest them when they are young anyway? Most of our hens are dual purpose, if we don't take them, aren't they going to die young anyway. We would like them to live long lives with us. We do have some hens who are not showing signs of disease and they are 7 years old.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

I am so sorry for your loss! Bear hugs!

 

[Relleoms]

We put down a girl today, our very first ever egg layer. I bawled like a baby while my 9 year old niece reminded me she’s in heaven with our other chickens. This truly is the worst part of life-whether people, pets or any other animal-but I try to keep it in perspective and remember that I never want to become desensitized to death of any kind. Hugs to you all, may our girls have a lovely time dust bathing, bug hunting & scratching to their hearts content in heaven!

 

[feathermaid]

Thank you for your support and kindness. I didn't word my post well. Our girls all came from different sources. If we were to start over we were told to get them all from one breeder. But most of our hens came from breeders ? What is to prevent us getting IB again? Is it wrong to get more hens if we do have this virus?It seems unethical, but the hens could go to people who will harvest them when they are young anyway? Most of our hens are dual purpose, if we don't take them, aren't they going to die young anyway. We would like them to live long lives with us. We do have some hens who are not showing signs of disease and they are 7 years old.

Oh... I think I see what you're saying. You want to rescue new birds to give them a long happy life rather than let those birds go to someone else who will likely cull them at a young age. Yes, that would certainly be preferable, if the birds you bring in wouldn't be at risk. Hence the conundrum.

If your older birds have recovered from an earlier IB outbreak, they are now likely immune, but still carriers... so any new birds will be exposed to the disease. It's extremely contagious, but once an area is cleared of birds, the virus cannot survive long, a week maybe (very unlike Marek's that can hang around for months or years). That's why it's advised to cull the entire flock and start fresh, because IB is unlikely to return, as long as there is excellent ventilation in the coop. Ventilation is often a very important overlooked factor. You may want to switch to an open air style coop or replace a wall with hardware cloth.

So since new birds would be exposed, they have a good chance of contracting the disease and suffering respiratory and reproductive tract lesions and possible death (which seems to have happened before) even if it does take some time to occur. Though it's possible they could recover with supportive treatment and just become carriers, but there is no cure. If I were you, I don't think I would bring in new birds, as their rescue would probably just lead to suffering.

You are in a very tough position and I feel for you. No one should have to make such a difficult decision. You have to decide for yourself to either let your current birds live out their days as a closed flock, or end their suffering now and start over with healthy birds that have a good chance of outliving the birds you have now. Heartbreaking either way, and I'm so sorry.

 

[feathermaid]

If you do start over, I think the reason you were told to get them from only one breeder is because they would all have the same exposure/immunities. That might be true, but unless you're neighbors, you both probably have very different pathogens floating around each property, so might not make much difference.

The most important factor is quarantine... in an entirely separate area far away from the flock, for about a month or more. It's not possible for me to do a proper quarantine, so I buy hatchery chicks, which have little to no risk of bringing any illness, and they are very easy to integrate with older birds. The hatcheries have sterilized environments with amazing biosecurity, feed store chicks come from there also. I'm not sure of the biosecurity practices of different breeders in your area, usually the best ones won't even let visitors on their property.

It might be a fun experience for you to raise some chicks. Watching them grow could be very healing. Something to think about?

 

[mullys]

We put down a girl today, our very first ever egg layer. I bawled like a baby while my 9 year old niece reminded me she’s in heaven with our other chickens. This truly is the worst part of life-whether people, pets or any other animal-but I try to keep it in perspective and remember that I never want to become desensitized to death of any kind. Hugs to you all, may our girls have a lovely time dust bathing, bug hunting & scratching to their hearts content in heaven!

Your words are a comfort thank you.

 

[mullys]

If you do start over, I think the reason you were told to get them from only one breeder is because they would all have the same exposure/immunities. That might be true, but unless you're neighbors, you both probably have very different pathogens floating around each property, so might not make much difference.

The most important factor is quarantine... in an entirely separate area far away from the flock, for about a month or more. It's not possible for me to do a proper quarantine, so I buy hatchery chicks, which have little to no risk of bringing any illness, and they are very easy to integrate with older birds. The hatcheries have sterilized environments with amazing biosecurity, feed store chicks come from there also. I'm not sure of the biosecurity practices of different breeders in your area, usually the best ones won't even let visitors on their property.

It might be a fun experience for you to raise some chicks. Watching them grow could be very healing. Something to think about?

It's funny, almost everyone I know kinda just grabs chickens from all over. I wouldn't want chicks if it meant getting roos as we only want hens and couldn't give them away to be eaten or whatever. If we could get sex links or such.... we loved having all different breeds. They almost all came from breeders but you never know. Do you think it is ethical to bring in new hens to our flock? The hens we have now all seem very healthy. What if the birds we bought were meant to be eaten. We could guarantee a happy safe life for as long as they lived. We would really like more hens. We actually do a 30 day quarantine. I am a vet tech so very careful. We didn't see signs of IB until one hen died at the vet.

 

[mullys]

Oh... I think I see what you're saying. You want to rescue new birds to give them a long happy life rather than let those birds go to someone else who will likely cull them at a young age. Yes, that would certainly be preferable, if the birds you bring in wouldn't be at risk. Hence the conundrum.

If your older birds have recovered from an earlier IB outbreak, they are now likely immune, but still carriers... so any new birds will be exposed to the disease. It's extremely contagious, but once an area is cleared of birds, the virus cannot survive long, a week maybe (very unlike Marek's that can hang around for months or years). That's why it's advised to cull the entire flock and start fresh, because IB is unlikely to return, as long as there is excellent ventilation in the coop. Ventilation is often a very important overlooked factor. You may want to switch to an open air style coop or replace a wall with hardware cloth.

So since new birds would be exposed, they have a good chance of contracting the disease and suffering respiratory and reproductive tract lesions and possible death (which seems to have happened before) even if it does take some time to occur. Though it's possible they could recover with supportive treatment and just become carriers, but there is no cure. If I were you, I don't think I would bring in new birds, as their rescue would probably just lead to suffering.

You are in a very tough position and I feel for you. No one should have to make such a difficult decision. You have to decide for yourself to either let your current birds live out their days as a closed flock, or end their suffering now and start over with healthy birds that have a good chance of outliving the birds you have now. Heartbreaking either way, and I'm so sorry.

Thanks. Good advice. Though we don't want to watch our girls go one at a time, I agree that intentionally exposing hens to a terrible virus is not okay. Very helpful advice.

 

[feathermaid]

Hello again... I have been thinking...
If you had a necropsy done but there were no lab tests performed, the necropsy is technically inconclusive. IB can only be diagnosed with laboratory confirmation.

You said some of your hens only lived 3 years and that's actually quite common for many production breeds, like sex links, that are very susceptible to reproductive problems. They may not have been infected at all. And if you've always quarantined, you've done everything right. Bird diseases are crazy, but as a vet tech you probably already know that, and it's also possible that wild birds could have spread something as well. I actually don't know what I'm trying to say here...

Maybe if you could get conclusive lab results (even have your other birds tested?) you would have a much better idea on how to proceed. It really might be well worth it in the long run... for you to know exactly what you're dealing with.
Again, I'm really sorry for your losses.

 

[Shadrach]

There was a thread for bereaved chicken keepers but I haven’t been able to find it.
Your posts have touched on so many of the issues that I have thought a great deal about over my years of chicken keeping.
There is unfortunately a perception that chicken keeping is fun and a whole industry has sprung up that attempts to reinforce this view.
A loose definition of ‘Fun’ is something that provides mirth or amusement; it’s inconsequential, of no real importance.
It doesn’t sound like you’re having a lot of fun and a brief scan of these forums will persuade you that an awful lot of other people aren’t having much fun either.
I would like to see this chicken keeping is fun message changed. Chicken keeping I have found is a great many things, but if you value the chickens you keep and consider them as something more than a passing amusement, fun hasn’t featured in my experience of chicken keeping and nor should it in my opinion.
Chicken keeping is a responsibility, a joy at times, a heartache at others and for those who keep chickens purely as livestock, it’s a job.
Chicken keeping is easy is another misleading view. It seems everything wants to eat chicken so just trying to keep them safe is extremely difficult if you are concerned about their quality of life. Many of the breeds that have been encouraged over the years, have because of the human desire to have productive livestock, become short lived and prone to reproductive disorders and disease.

It's funny, almost everyone I know kinda just grabs chickens from all over.

Part of the problem with the spread of diseases and problems attributed to poor genetics is the point you’ve mentioned above, but underlying that point is chickens are in general viewed as a commodity rather than a fellow species of any intrinsic value.

For me, the chickens I look after have become my friends. They are neither livestock nor pets. Like friends from any species, you can offer them support, help them when they run into problems, nurse them when they are sick, but you cannot own their lives and you cannot control them if they are to have the degree of freedom that we would strive for for ourselves.

I lose chickens every year. I buried one of my most aggravating and obstinate chicken friends a few days ago. Each day they survive is one more day in which I can enjoy their company but like my human friends, death is inevitable and I can only hope they don’t die today.