I hated to do it, but I had to cull the runt today

Well, like the subject line says, it was tough, but probably for the best.

My last Leghorn -- the "runt" of the flock -- has been picked on since they were all juveniles. I don't know how many times I've had to segregate her after they tore up her comb, or her rear end.

Today was the worse day, however. This morning they were all fine. The kids were out checking for eggs a couple hours or so ago, and came in hollering that the BRs were, "tearing up the Leghorn!" Oh geez. Her entire right, rear was torn open and bleeding badly. The BRs were going at it like white on rice. I got her out of there, but she couldn't even stand up.

Without going into details I put her out of that misery. (No, the kids didn't see me do it.) I don't have the money to get her taken care of properly, or the time to keep her segregated properly between work and school, so in my opinion, this was best. The rest of the flock would start off on her again anyway if I got her back to health, and I've had enough of this.

Down to 13 in the flock now from the original 18. Three were Roos I gave away, and one died a few months ago.

The circle of life continues...

Mark

 

Thank you everybody.

You know, she was a pretty good egg layer too. The only white eggs I got were from her, although not everyday. Usually she layed every other day, but they all were large. That surprised me considering how tiny she was, but this is my first experience raising chickens.

We probably won't replace any of our chickens until next spring, so she will be missed.

Again, thank you. I know I did the right thing.

Mark