Heartbroken newbie

[FrankieDoodle]

Welcome to BYC!!! I'm sorry you lost Lucy

 

[007Sean]

Howdy Happy to have you join the family. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
Sorry to hear about your loss. Good Luck with future additions.

 

[ronott1]

http://cahfs.ucdavis.edu/

Hello! So glad I found this site. I have never owned chickens before. I had 2 wyondottes,{Lucy and ethel} and an australope{Lizzie} They aren't a year old yet. I got them as babies and kept them in our questroom till they were old enough to go in the coop. I love them dearly. Yesterday Lucy died. She was just sitting there and I thought she was going to do a dirt bath, well she died. She was fine an hour before. I noticed Lizzie has been taking along tme laying her egg lately. Maybe Lucy was eggbound. Lucy and Lizzie were both a little overweight. Now I'm so scared something will happen too Lizzie and ethel. We let them have free riehn over the back yard and they seem happy and healthy, Ethel and Lucy were buddies so it seems like ethel has been searching for Lucy all day. We want to get a couple teenagers in the spring so there wont be a danger of either one of them being alone. Well, I'm glad to meet all of you and hope I can do right by these chickens!!

Welcome to backyard chickens!

I am sorry for your loss.

UC Davis has a necropsy service that costs $20.00. It will tell you how she died. They also have an account for discounted Fedex to ship if you are too far from one of their labs. There are 4 labs in the State.

cahfs.ucdavis.edu

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYC! So glad you joined us. Sorry for the reason that you did so. Chickens can be a lot smarter than some give them credit for and it's possible that Ethel is depressed about the loss of her friend Lucy. That doesn't mean that just adding in a "replacement" will "fix" it. If you add just a single new bird, the existing two might gang up on it. You'd be best to add at least 2 that are familiar with each other so they'll have a friend until the two groups merge and the new flock dynamic is established.

There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

Hope you enjoy the site!

 

[howertop]

Greetings and welcome to BYC! So glad you joined us. Sorry for the reason that you did so. Chickens can be a lot smarter than some give them credit for and it's possible that Ethel is depressed about the loss of her friend Lucy. That doesn't mean that just adding in a "replacement" will "fix" it. If you add just a single new bird, the existing two might gang up on it. You'd be best to add at least 2 that are familiar with each other so they'll have a friend until the two groups merge and the new flock dynamic is established.

There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

Hope you enjoy the site!

Thank you so much, yes we are planning on adding two more to them, mainly, I heard if you only have two if one of them dies the other will die also. I feel better having this site to learn more about my girls.

 

[Latestarter]

There are so many good folks here who will go above and beyond to help you... You just have to ask

 

[howertop]

There are so many good folks here who will go above and beyond to help you... You just have to ask

I know, that's very comforting. I have a really stupid question now, what is scratch? Is it their regular chicken food?

 

[Latestarter]

no... scratch (grains) are a "treat" for the birds that is generally thrown out on the ground for them to peck and "scratch" around eating. It's not good as a primary source of nourishment and treats should comprise 10% or less of their daily intake.

 

[Latestarter]

Kinda like candy to a kid... use it to train them to come/go where you want them.

 

[Latestarter]

There are many combinations that are food for them... They are balanced nutrition and come in different protein amounts and formulations. Most come as either pellets or crumbles. Whatever you start out with, they may or may not take to immediately... But when they get hungry enough, they WILL eat it. Typically, with egg laying hens, they require more calcium so feeding them a "layer" feed provides this. Many/most also provide them with oyster shell so they can get more calcium if they need it.