Dealing with Loss of 1st Chicken

[592784]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.

I know that i will feel the same way if and when it happens to me. I will be devastated and miserable. They are my pets and friends and I am the same way with trying to nurse animals back to health. Don’t be embarrassed and take the time you need to grieve

 

[featherhead007]

This post touched me. If I ever lose a bird, I hope it's taken without a trace because I would've tried everything you did and it would be just as devastating to me...

I'm so sorry for your experience and loss.

You wouldn’t want that to happen either. Not knowing where your bird is, will make you crazy in time. Someone or something stole my prize rooster from my yard. Vanished without a trace. I think of him everyday (It’s been one year)

 

[Rosebud25]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.
[/QUOTE
You loved her enough to hold and cuddle her! She knew she was loved! Sorry for your loss

 

[featherhead007]

You wouldn’t want that to happen either. Not knowing where your bird is, will make you crazy in time. Someone or something stole my prize rooster from my yard. Vanished without a trace. I think of him everyday (It’s been one year)

This was BEN my rooster. At the fair, winning his blue ribbons

 

[LuvThemChix]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.

 

[Crystaluna13]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.

So sorry for your loss...after losing 2 of our girls to predators, we gave in and got a rooster...best decision ever! He takes excellent care of them, and they follow him around like puppies. As long as you collect their eggs, no worries about increasing flock size unless you want to.

 

[LuvThemChix]

My heart (and eyes) are crying with you. My chicks didn't arrive until late September...too late for the north by most standards. They are doing very well and they are actually what gets me moving in the mornings. I understand the attachment and I am sure she felt loved and passed peacefully. Will pray for you and your other baby.

 

[Bonnieboo]

I truly feel your pain I lost two to a fox because I forgot to shut their enclosure one night.
The guilt and sorrow took so long to get over. We now set an alarm for a certain time every night to lock them in.
We built a new chook house and yard that is hopefully safer. It is solid corrugated iron walls and roof on a cement slab. Also a yard surrounded with small gauge wire and heavy paving bricks running along the base of the fence so that nothing will be able to dig under. There are two locked doors to get into to the chook house so we feel safe in the chances of anything getting in is very small. Some may say it's Fort Knox but we call it the high security Taj Mahal!!

 

[LauraMae]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.

I'm so sorry. I lost my first last month too. My sweet little Burrito. I cried and buried her by the lilac bush. I felt silly, being so sad over a chicken, but they are such little love bugs and really worm their way into your heart. You do what you need to do to grieve your little one. We all understand and are sad with you. ❤❤❤

 

[debra and shenderra]

Hi everyone, I am a bit new to this and to be honest, am doing this out of clear desperation to not feel so alone and crazy in my thoughts at the moment. Night we just lost one of our 5 chickens who was severely injured from a bobcat attack sometime early yesterday morning. The site was devastating. Not only where it happened around their coup but her injuries were so severe that my husband wanted to put her down out of compassion but me, being the fighter I am-told him I wanted to do everything we could to clean her wounds (the skin on her neck and her tail feathers from stripped clean off and her right wing was hanging by a thread). I thought maybe she could survive with one wing (i have read countless threads on here about taking care of injured chickens so I wanted to give it our best shot) and that it we could take care of her etc. After the entire day being filled with an amatuer type surgery, I was able to feed her with a syringe and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. After 12 hours of checking in on her...finally before I was heading to bed, I saw her take her last breath and go peacefully.
I did not handle the situation so peacefully and completely broke down. She was a sweet girl, the tiniest one we had and had a wonderful personality. In the midst of my tears I woke my husband up so we could bury her in our backyard because...well...my heart is too big and I just cannot help but feel guilty, horrible and broken. Did I mention that we have another chicken who got injured too? No? Ok, so our girl Lemmy is currently recovering from a torn neck (which we closed and cleaned) and her one wing is sprained. She is inside a carrier and is doing well-missing her sisters. So, all in all-we have reinforced their coup even more and have metal plates surrounding the entire coup as the bobcats chased them around and grabbed them through the metal fencing.

Sorry this is so long...I don't know how to explain these feelings of loss for something I never owned before last April. I never thought chickens would make my life just a bit better and that my family and I would be so attached..but we are. I feel guilty for not keeping them safe. My little girl deserved so much better.

I can only hope that our feathered girls live a life full of love so when their time does come they know they were loved. That is what I am trying to hold onto right now...just that thought...that she knew we loved her and I held her when she left.

Hey, I wanted to say sorry for your loss. We had also lost a hen recently of our hundred + flock.... we think it was a hawk or some sort of bird of prey predator due to her neck having been broken, held her as her body was spasming so I can get how it is heartbreaking to lose one of your girls.

One of our other hens who had been hurt weeks prior was attacked by a feral cat, but with tlc we nursed her back to health! Had her in a Rubbermaid bin container with ventilation and a wire mesh on top in the lid. We used Equate antibiotic ointment + pain relief and then wrapped her up loosely with a gauze bandage and something soft next to the wound that was really bad. She was out of it at first and fussy with us moving her so she was on her back so we can tend to her wound but once she realize it was making her pain go away she did not fight and was calm. And still lets us rotate her and stays relaxed enjoying the pets.

I hope you will be able to keep the rest of your girls safe and if any are hurt your able to tend to them to get them back to max health, and I suggest you invest in motion sensors to flash on lights near their coup to spook the predator cause it will try and come back.

Hopefully this helps you also another thing could help is on the light flashing something that will make a loud sound that you change every so often that is only active for the nighttime so that the predator does not get used to it. Like a dog bark recording or human shout noises or gun shots.Mountain lion or bear too could work too.

Maybe if it still tries after, get some help from animal control or ask your local wildlife official what to do.

Sincerely Shenderra