Euthanasia

[MotherOfChickens]

Broomstick Method Video Shared by Aart

I’m so sorry you are having to go through this. I was personally taken aback by the amount of flapping from my hen that was unbelievably weak to begin with. I put her in a towel to hold close while she flapped fairly intensely after death.

cervical dislocation is the only approved humane method of euthanasia by vets. Gassing may feel better for us, but apparently it’s not easy for them.

I so dread doing this... with every fiber of my being, but I know it is part of good animal husbandry.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

So I wanted to give an update about my hen... about 3-4 weeks ago I discovered that she had a severely blocked crop. It was hard as a rock and the size of a softball, if not larger. I fought and fought to save her life. I massaged it. I gave her stool softeners. Withheld food. Crated her. And then it went sour. So I started treating the sour crop too. Her crop became pendulous and I even made her a crop bra. Nothing helped improve it. So I decided I just needed to euthanize her.

During this time, my sister, whom I was her caregiver was showing signs of active dying ( she had ALS ) so I had to leave my chicken be and be on a 24 hour vigil with my sister. My sister sadly passed away on October 10. I turned my attention back to my sick hen....

I had not been treating it for a good 10 days at this point and I was allowing her to be with her fellow hens, eat and be a chicken before I euthanized her... But I noticed, her crop was getting smaller and she was starting to poop a little more.

This morning I felt of her crop again, and it is very small (still a little food in it) but she seems to be beating the odds of a severely blocked, pendulous, sour crop!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So I wanted to give an update about my hen... about 3-4 weeks ago I discovered that she had a severely blocked crop. It was hard as a rock and the size of a softball, if not larger. I fought and fought to save her life. I massaged it. I gave her stool softeners. Withheld food. Crated her. And then it went sour. So I started treating the sour crop too. Her crop became pendulous and I even made her a crop bra. Nothing helped improve it. So I decided I just needed to euthanize her.

During this time, my sister, whom I was her caregiver was showing signs of active dying ( she had ALS ) so I had to leave my chicken be and be on a 24 hour vigil with my sister. My sister sadly passed away on October 10. I turned my attention back to my sick hen....

I had not been treating it for a good 10 days at this point and I was allowing her to be with her fellow hens, eat and be a chicken before I euthanized her... But I noticed, her crop was getting smaller and she was starting to poop a little more.

This morning I felt of her crop again, and it is very small (still a little food in it) but she seems to be beating the odds of a severely blocked, pendulous, sour crop!

 

[aart]

My sister sadly passed away on October 10.

Condolences.

 

[jolenesdad]

So I wanted to give an update about my hen... about 3-4 weeks ago I discovered that she had a severely blocked crop. It was hard as a rock and the size of a softball, if not larger. I fought and fought to save her life. I massaged it. I gave her stool softeners. Withheld food. Crated her. And then it went sour. So I started treating the sour crop too. Her crop became pendulous and I even made her a crop bra. Nothing helped improve it. So I decided I just needed to euthanize her.

During this time, my sister, whom I was her caregiver was showing signs of active dying ( she had ALS ) so I had to leave my chicken be and be on a 24 hour vigil with my sister. My sister sadly passed away on October 10. I turned my attention back to my sick hen....

I had not been treating it for a good 10 days at this point and I was allowing her to be with her fellow hens, eat and be a chicken before I euthanized her... But I noticed, her crop was getting smaller and she was starting to poop a little more.

This morning I felt of her crop again, and it is very small (still a little food in it) but she seems to be beating the odds of a severely blocked, pendulous, sour crop!

So glad that you could be with your sister.

I think your hen sounds really committed to a recovery. Sending lots of healing energy to you.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry for the loss of your sister. Hopefully, your hen will continue to recover.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Thank you all! My sister was a fighter and she fought her illness every step of the way. She is no longer in a body that became her prison.

I am praying my hen continues her path to recovery... I just find it amazing how she has been able to bounce back from something that should have taken her out by now.