Desertbabies
Chirping
- May 8, 2022
- 19
- 90
- 69
I am posting here because I’m having a bit of a mental breakdown and feel like I need to talk to other chicken people right now.
Ive had my flock for a year and a half, and recently let my broody buff orpington hatch a clutch (we have a rooster). A week ago today, we had 7 live hatchlings, and 3 who died during hatch. Of the 7, one had what I thought was severe spraddle leg. I set up an indoor brooder and did all the bracing and physical therapy, but didn’t make any progress. Upon more research, it seemed the little chick had slipped tendons. But she was happy and eating and drinking and liked to snuggle.
This morning I woke up and she was in pain in her brooder. She was holding her leg inward and screaming if I tried to stand her up or touch it. It almost seemed broken. She was breathing hard and I could tell she was suffering. Sobbing, I called my husband in and told him it was time.
Having grown up on a farm, my husband knows how to cull a chicken (I myself have never). But never a baby chick. I became nervous that he wouldn’t be able to “thumb” her quick enough to avoid suffering, so a farmer friend of ours recommended the vinegar and baking soda method. I went in our room and sobbed into a pillow while my husband went to do the deed. Ten minutes later, he returned… crying. In 14 years I’ve never seen this man cry. Apparently the vinegar/baking soda caused the chick to lose consciousness, but not die. So he had to go to plan B, which he won’t describe to me.
I am so heartbroken, and the sight of my husband so upset made it all the more traumatic, as I know it was not a clean cull. I know it was just a little chick but I cannot stop crying. I loved on that baby all week. My heart hurts so badly. I am clearly not cut out for farm life. I can’t explain why I’m feeling so much grief and guilt. I honestly feel like rehoming my whole flock at this moment, because there’s no way I could go through this heartbreak over and over.
Culling is also… well… gruesome. Why isn’t there a simple medication or injection that can allow them to simply fall sleep peacefully?
How does one ever get used to this? The guilt is overwhelming.
Rest In Peace, little Avery Faye.
Ive had my flock for a year and a half, and recently let my broody buff orpington hatch a clutch (we have a rooster). A week ago today, we had 7 live hatchlings, and 3 who died during hatch. Of the 7, one had what I thought was severe spraddle leg. I set up an indoor brooder and did all the bracing and physical therapy, but didn’t make any progress. Upon more research, it seemed the little chick had slipped tendons. But she was happy and eating and drinking and liked to snuggle.
This morning I woke up and she was in pain in her brooder. She was holding her leg inward and screaming if I tried to stand her up or touch it. It almost seemed broken. She was breathing hard and I could tell she was suffering. Sobbing, I called my husband in and told him it was time.
Having grown up on a farm, my husband knows how to cull a chicken (I myself have never). But never a baby chick. I became nervous that he wouldn’t be able to “thumb” her quick enough to avoid suffering, so a farmer friend of ours recommended the vinegar and baking soda method. I went in our room and sobbed into a pillow while my husband went to do the deed. Ten minutes later, he returned… crying. In 14 years I’ve never seen this man cry. Apparently the vinegar/baking soda caused the chick to lose consciousness, but not die. So he had to go to plan B, which he won’t describe to me.
I am so heartbroken, and the sight of my husband so upset made it all the more traumatic, as I know it was not a clean cull. I know it was just a little chick but I cannot stop crying. I loved on that baby all week. My heart hurts so badly. I am clearly not cut out for farm life. I can’t explain why I’m feeling so much grief and guilt. I honestly feel like rehoming my whole flock at this moment, because there’s no way I could go through this heartbreak over and over.
Culling is also… well… gruesome. Why isn’t there a simple medication or injection that can allow them to simply fall sleep peacefully?
How does one ever get used to this? The guilt is overwhelming.
Rest In Peace, little Avery Faye.
