You know there is truth to that. My Large Fowl flock are pretty much on their own. I turn them out in the morning they roam the yard all day. Put them selves to bed each night and get locked up after dark. I do give them a minimal amount of food to get them to leave me alone when I'm out side. Two of them have chicks. I've figured i'd come home to dead chicks with all this rain. Nope they are running around like little dirty pigs, but not slowing down at all. The bantam and "Special" breed chickens I have are a whole lot more trouble and work. Some times I think I should just let them go and stop babying them and let the strong survive.
Sorry your loosing another. I have a broody I'll offer you chicks again if you want them.
There is a lot of truth to what you say, Karen. At least, if you resign yourself that you will let the strong survive and will have some losses, you take some pressure off yourself. I have had weird stuff with the D'Anvers, a fractured leg, a head injury (I'm fairly sure), Maura's eye injury that semi-blinded her in the left eye, etc. Thankfully, never any egg issues unless you count the fact that Lucy and Penny just don't lay at all, lol. And early on, one of my original porcelain roosters, Angus, just developed what seemed to be a heart issue and died. I believe that some of the bantam breeds are just not as hardy, overall. That said, I have no regrets choosing this breed as my bantam breed. They are gorgeous and have tons of personality.
The hen I'm losing now always laid humongous and very elongated rough shelled eggs. I think that is her downfall now-one probably is way back in the chute, maybe positioned cockeyed. We did the vent palpation and can feel a mass back up in there, but nothing we can reach. Even if we could fix it this time, her eggs would still be the same, still give her trouble. She's not a huge hen, rather narrow bodied, so the egg size I knew would probably hurt her at some point. I gave her a massive emergency dose of calcium but I don't think that will do it.
Thank you for your offer, my friend. I had already resigned myself to holding off adding to the flocks, letting the old gals pass on (they refuse, lol) and then starting up with fresh, new stock and also breeding from my BR rooster, Atlas, and the Stukel line BR hens. I'd like to get more Brahmas in the future, preferably Buffs like my 8 yr old Caroline, and Darks, to add to the Barred Rocks I have. I had a Lt. Brahma hen, too, sweet thing she was, died at 5 1/2 of what I believe to be reproductive cancer.
