Favorite Hen Drowned to Death in Pond

[elissarules]

I didn’t quite know where to put this, as it’s more about the death of my sweet hen, Daphne. My chickens tend to drink out of a small pond we have in the front yard. We discourage this heavily and try our best to keep them out of that yard. It was unsuccessful this morning.

She had been fighting a staph infection on her left toe. I had really high hopes as it seemed to be getting smaller.

Anyway, whenever I discovered she wasn’t with the others but when I fed them, I knew something was wrong. I treat my birds like pets, petting them, cooing at them. And when my dearest was found I went into hysterics.

In April I purchased 6 chicks, 4 red comets and 2 silkies. I’m now down to 2 red comets and 1 silkie. I feel like a bad pet owner. I’ve lost half of my birds in 8 months! I know that the deaths were technically out of my control, but I feel completely responsible as if I killed them innocently!

I’m going to see about getting a higher fence to separate the yards, as well as a fence, but I’m worried about the money. We plan on isolating the birds from the connecting yard for the time being.

In the spring I planned on getting a few more chickens. I can’t help but feel that I’m an irresponsible bird owner though, and that discourages me. I’m posting this for encouragement during this hard time.

Attached are some images of her. She was such a sweet, goofy girl.

 

[microchick]

I'm so sorry you lost your favorite hen. That just bites when that happens.

It's weird that she drowned. Could something have spooked her into the water? We have a small lagoon behind our barn and I once had a cockerel spook and fly into it. Silly thing. I had to fish him out but he sort of used his wings like paddles and get himself to shore.

But the idea of higher and better fences is always a good idea. If you think any are fliers you could always clip the feathers on one wing to keep them corralled.

Once again, my deepest sympathies.

 

[elissarules]

I’m not entirely sure? The pond is small but about 3ft. I think they bend too low into the water and lose their balance

I do have their wings clipped because they would fly out of the fence and ended up nesting in our outer garden. The fence is very small. We haven’t had a drowning in a long time.

Thank you!

 

[ShiftyShickens]

terrible! sorry for your sweet baby

 

[FrankieDoodle]

I'm so, so sorry for your loss

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I’m so sorry Elissa for your loss
You’re not a bad chicken owner, you did what you could, we all make mistakes. Everyone learns through trial and error. Good luck with your chicken keeping.
PS Don’t get discouraged we’ve all been there, questioning if we did the right thing by raising chickens. We’re rooting for you

 

[red horse ranch]

You gave her a good life while you had her. Most chickens can't ask for more than that.
Don't beat yourself up over it. Unless she flew into the pond she should have been able to get herself out. I'm wondering if a dog or another chicken was on top of her causing her to drown.....
So sorry. We've all lost some of our favorites before and we understand how you feel.

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

So sorry about Daphne----she was a beautiful girl!

 

[WVduckchick]

So sorry for your loss. Comets are so wonderful!

I lost a young bantam cochin pullet that fell into my ducks baby pool. But another day, I noticed a young cockerel drenched from head to toe, soaked to the bone, and I could tell he had been in the bigger pool, but was apparently able to get out. As much as we would like, we can't spend 24/7 with them, so things just happen sometimes. Don't blame yourself.

 

[chicken4prez]

I'm so sorry that you lost your hen. She was beautiful. Things like this happens and it's not your fault. Thoughts and prayers headed towards you!