Cup o' Joe and Tea Too

[Bsmac]

Oh man....what a lousy day.

It was... Thankfully those don`t happen very often. My sweet hen isn`t suffering any longer... The Amish guy was super nice, his whole family is super nice! His brother was in my class in school. He and his other brother got killed in a car accident in 1975.

 

[Bsmac]

I know. We've been there. In fact, our last leghorn isn't looking great, but DH keeps saying she has a will to live and carry on. Hard to make these decisions, but it's just good chicken care in the long run.

It really is hard to make those decisions. Ultimately, I knew it had to be done. She was an Isa brown and was 2 3/4 old. I think she had salphingitis to start with and was holding her own then sadly she started molting it was too much for her weakened state. She got to the point she could`t stand up. I knew it was time... If I had known then what I know now I wouldn`t have gotten any Isa brown birds. But, they were free! Great layers but at the cost of a shorter life span. Not worth it. I think in the long run a heritage breed will lay as many eggs over a longer lifespan.

 

[ValerieJ]

It really is hard to make those decisions. Ultimately, I knew it had to be done. She was an Isa brown and was 2 3/4 old. I think she had salphingitis to start with and was holding her own then sadly she started molting it was too much for her weakened state. She got to the point she could`t stand up. I knew it was time... If I had known then what I know now I wouldn`t have gotten any Isa brown birds. But, they were free! Great layers but at the cost of a shorter life span. Not worth it. I think in the long run a heritage breed will lay as many eggs over a longer lifespan.

The same is true of leghorns. It was the first time for me to get them and 2 of the 3 only lived 2 years. This last one has almost lived a year longer. It is obvious they have reproductive issues, and most people say it's cancer. It's way too sad an experience for us.

We will stick with Orpingtons. They live a long time. My older Australorps are going to be 9 years old in February. I just lost my oldest buff Orpington and she was 7. That is what I like, letting chickens live out their days here and the longer the better. It's a good life for them. So many chickens have a horrible life, so I feel like I'm at least helping a few.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Found this by accident lol