Dealing with Loss of 1st Chicken

[TheOddOneOut]

I‘m so sorry.

 

[Mrs. K]

Sometimes I worry about people with such tender hearts and chickens. Maybe this is not a good hobby for you? I hate to see you so distraught.

I have kept a flock for 15 years, and in spite of reasonable care, have had numerous wrecks over the years. I do feel bad, but not distraught. I know this might happen, and I expect chickens to live and die. I give them good food, adequate space and water. I add chickens to the flock, and sometimes, I have to remove chickens from the flock. I keep a flock. As my granddaughter says when we have a loss, "Well, dang it, .... but now we can get more chicks." We think of it as a cycle of life.

Chickens are not real long lived animals, mother nature and her predators are an ugly reality of the wild life, that most people do not see or deal with. The !#$^%$##@ predators will be back, or they fly off the roost wrong and break their neck, or there is a genetic deficiency and suddenly they are dead. It happens, and it will happen. So what I am trying to tell you, most kindly, is that loss of birds is to be rather expected. If this upsets you too much, maybe you should have a different hobby.

I feel so badly for you, but I know that this is a tough reality of chicken keeping.

Mrs K

 

[Mimi13]

Sometimes I worry about people with such tender hearts and chickens. Maybe this is not a good hobby for you? I have kept a flock for 15 years, and in spite of reasonable care, have had numerous wrecks over the years. I do feel bad, but not distraught. I know this might happen, and I expect chickens to live and die. I give them good food, adequate space and water. I add chickens to the flock, and sometimes, I have to remove chickens from the flock. I keep a flock. As my granddaughter says when we have a loss, "Well, dang it, .... but now we can get more chicks." We think of it as a cycle of life.

Chickens are not real long lived animals, mother nature and her predators are an ugly reality of the wild life, that most people do not see or deal with. So what I am trying to tell you, most kindly, is that loss of birds is to be rather expected. If this upsets you too much, maybe you should have a different hobby.

Mrs K

You made a good point, Mrs K! I make sure to let my grandson know that these things, no matter how terrible they seem, do happen. He has even helped me bury one before.

 

[furandfeatheredmomma7]

No, no, never did I mean to imply you were experimenting. I was simply saying I’ve read where it was done, many times. Only the person taking care of the bird can know for sure whether they have a treatable wound or not, that is worth trying to heal. Sometimes the way I’ve seen it written makes the bird’s wounds sound utterly disastrous, however treatable in the eye of the owner. I just have a soft heart for the patient, in those circumstances.

I am not one who makes it a habit of condemning anyone, truly I’m not. However, whether it is a fault of my own or not, I am a realist, and I see things - and thus say things - as they are. I am very sorry for upsetting you and that was never my intention. Please accept my sincere apology.

I understand what you may have thought and wanted to express. I appreciate you taking the time to read my response and appreciate your compassion.

 

[Mimi13]

I understand what you may have thought and wanted to express. I appreciate you taking the time to read my response and appreciate your compassion.

We are all bird lovers or we wouldn’t be here. Maybe a big difference in me and some others is I grew up on a farm. I think that, in and of itself, gives people different perspectives.

 

[bobbi-j]

We are all bird lovers or we wouldn’t be here. Maybe a big difference in me and some others is I grew up on a farm. I think that, in and of itself, gives people different perspectives.

I agree. There is a difference between farm chickens and backyard pet chickens. I grew up in a Minneapolis suburb where “animals are our friends”. I married my farmer and started raising chickens for food. It was a tough transition. There were many instances when I tried to preserve a chicken’s life when all I was doing was prolonging death and causing my poor birds to suffer needlessly. People may think I’m too quick to put one down now, but I really do hate to see them suffer. In my mind it’s kinder to do it sooner rather than later, or to le them linger as they die a slow, painful death. My chickens won’t be taken to a vet, I won’t drain their ascites time after time, and if I ever get one that becomes egg bound, I’m not going to let it happen more than once. I will try to help a chicken if the injuries aren’t extensive, but not if it seems like the bird will be in pain for a long time.

 

[Allthefloofs]

One of the things about this community that I have really come to respect and appreciate is the wide variety of viewpoints represented. I am one of the people that views our chickens through the same emotional lens as I would a cat or dog, and most people would at the very least not understand that, if not feel that is on the extreme side. I can respect that and I don’t mind hearing other perspectives. I think one advantage to this site is that there are people on here that can validate your feelings even when they seem off base to others. I will never eat our girls, (don’t tell our Delaware BB-8, it is my go to threat when she is yelling ) but I sometimes read things in the meat birds forum out of sheer curiosity. In my experience, becoming very emotional over a pet’s death is a very important part of life, it is a marker and something that makes me stronger and more compassionate in the end. There is also nothing wrong with not feeling that sense of deep emotional connection with your birds, it really doesn’t have any significance to how good a person you are or how well you care for your flock.

 

[Batwell]

Believe me, we understand your grief, your pain, even your guilt. Every one of us has been where you are, and we know your tears. Just because it's "just a chicken" does not make the pain any less. The heart does not know the size, or the value, of the loved one lost. It only knows the size of the hole in the heart. Our chickens are small and totally dependent on us. They trust us. We do our best to provide for their needs, and when something happens to them, naturally we feel that we failed them. But please understand that nobody raises chickens without suffering loss. There are many predators out there and it's a constant battle. You do the best you can do, and then.... you do better. It's a learning process. Don't let yourself be discouraged. Fight back. Build better. Ask questions, listen and learn. Honor her by protecting the others. Don't let her loss be in vain. Learn from it and go on. We're all here to help! ❤

Very beautifully put. I think it expresses what we all feel. I will add to that the fact that they give us their beautiful eggs to enjoy and sustain us ... that adds a dimension to our great affection for them. We are all in that fraternity of knowing the grief of losing a beloved chicken.

 

[Sngarcia67]

Im so sorry for your loss. Your post brought back memories if my first girls I lost when I started raising. Three of them were taken by a chicken hawk and I felt so bad that I wasnt there to protect them. I now keep my girls in a great secured pen that my hubby built for them. I also bought some guinea fowl that sound off anytime a predator gets near. My girls and my ducks know to take cover when they start squawking. I hope your other girl us better soon.

 

[NZChookdom]

I am sorry for your loss and feel for you. We are nursing an injured one right now, Old Girl, and every day she gets stronger I hope more she will be OK.