Finally Culled My Always Sick Hen

[HidingInTheHenHouse]

I hate doing it, but my hen that has been sick on and off for months and months was really going down hill fast. For the past week, I kept expecting to find her dead in the morning when I checked on her. Lately though, reading through posts on here, I realized that even if she somehow miraculously recovered, she could be a carrier of something that might then be passed to the rest of the flock, or permenatly disabled, or perhaps just always prone to sickness, and regardless of how much I paid for her, I just can't justify it any longer.

The hardest part about culling a chicken is explaining to the kids. My 8 year old is just heart broken right now, even though I said we would be hatching other eggs and could very well get another one that looked like this hen and name her the same if she wanted to. She thinks that every chicken that gets a name should be kept and loved forever and ever.

I am sad as well. I hate giving up on a sick hen, but my success at curing them is dismal, so I have decided that I will probably start culling a lot more quickly than before. There have been too many that have just languished in the house for weeks while I tried treatment after treatment before they finally just died anyway.

 

[Schultz]

Aww I know it must be hard, I dread the day I will have to do the very same thing. Our thoughts will be with you and your little one.

 

[tiki244]

I am sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[MarlaKaye]

This is the hardest thing about loving chickens. They die.
I am so sad, lost two little ones, because of something I did wrong.
So sorry for the children, your daughter is going through quite a ordeal for her young years. I am in my fifties and having a tough time dealing with it.

I tell myself it hurts today, it will still hurt tomorrow, but these are facts of life, and I will be ok soon. There is so much more life that still needs me and is depending on me. It is hard to learn about life and death matters and with chickens it happens so frequently, with incubating the eggs tthrough the whole life cycle.

Everyone one of our chickens, 25 aproximately have names or will as soon as we know if they are male or female. Lots of them have tentative names. I feel like a ten year old, because I brought home one tiny chick from the farm store a year and a half ago, and hubby and I both got attached.

Now we are dealing with the hard parts. Can you believe we are upset because our pullet started laying eggs, and we can't bring ourselves to eat the eggs, because they belong to our "precious Lacey". They are her babies to us and we are like little people dangling on a string with our chickens being our masters.

Now we don't have chicken dinners anymore because we are too wimpy to call them that. Now we referr to chicken dinner as Coon, so we don't have to eat a chicken... What is to become of us. WE laugh at ourselves, but keep doing it.

Tell your daughter, I am very sorry for her loss, and that I believe God has something very special planned for her life because He is letting her learn things about life at a young age. There will be many more chicks who need her, and tommorrow or the next day it won't hurt so much. Also remind her how special she was to her pet chicken, that she made her life worth living even when she was suffering. So she can be at peace while her pet rests in peace. That is what her beloved chicken would want for her.
Love and best wishes,
MarlaKaye

 

[JennsPeeps]

It's far better to be sad about taking an animal's life for any reason than to not care at all.

to you & your family. you did the right thing by this hen.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Awww, I'm sorry for you, your child, & your poor sick hen. But you're to be commended for making this responsible decision and doing this tough but necessary job.

Keeping chickens is different from keeping other animals as pets. Even though many of us give them names & get attatched to their endearing ways, we still have to learn how to treat them as livestock. That means to learn how to deal with their illnesses & injuries by ourselves (with a generous amount of help from our friends here on BYC) and how to end their misery quickly & humanely when it's apparant that they will not recover.

It's a difficult issue to face at any age. But far better to fully face it than to avoid it and prolong the misery of an injured or ailing chicken. I try to be honest with my own kids about what I have to do with our birds, & why it must be done, but don't insist that they watch when things are unpleasant.

I wish you great success with your new hatchlings.

 

[MarlaKaye]

Jenn said; "It's far better to be sad about taking an animal's life for any reason than to not care at all".

Jenn, thanks for the quote, It is just what I needed to deal with the false remorse I am having.
Kudos to you.
MarlaKaye

 

[TimeMist]