I lost one

[ridgefire]

Not really sure which section to put this one in.

But I lost one of my white leghorns the other night. It has been extremely cold at night talking over 10 below at night. I went to check on them in the morning and I seen a leghorn off in the corner of the barn. It looked like she was sleeping, her head was tucked down in her wing, you can see where she built a little nest for the night and bedded down. I was ok silly why are you off by yourself. I nudged her with my boot and she didnt move, I bent down and picked her up and she was cold and stiff. The only thing I can think of is she froze to death. I feel like such a bad dad. I still have no idea why she would go off into a corner like that and not roost with the others. I checked for predator damage and there was nothing not one feather out of place. She looked very peaceful. I checked on the others they seemed oblivious to the loss of one of the flock.

 

[miss_jayne]

oh, how sad. you're not a 'bad dad'! it was probably something you would have never noticed. she could have been weak or ill and made herself a little nest to hang out alone. not abnormal if they don't feel well.

hope your heart feels lighter soon.

 

[basicliving]

I'm so sorry you lost one, but don't beat yourself up, ridgefire. Things like this happen when you have chickens

I lost one recently myself. She was fine at 4PM, I found her at 5PM hunched down in a corner, and she was dead an hour and a half later. I was really upset. But had she gotten sick at night, I would have just found her dead the next morning. Similar to what you found.

Sometimes you lose a chicken and never know why. I'm really sorry you lost her. It's not your fault. Please don't blame yourself.

Penny

 

[hatchaholic]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I know how you feel. I always blame myself when something happens to one of ours. I had a really bad day the other day. I lost a hatching chick and a 10 week old. I felt terrible for the entire day.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

It's always so easy for us to beat ourselves up and question why things happen and if we could have done more. The fact is, sometimes there just is nothing anyone can do and losses occur. I am so sorry to hear about this. Please don't feel guilty or responsible. All your other babies are fine so you must be doing it right. I think perhaps miss_jayne hit it on the head and maybe the little hen was not well so she went off to be alone. The cold most likely was the culprit for her ultimate undoing.

Enjoy the rest of your girls and try not to feel bad about this, it happens.

 

[chicksalot]

Like others have said...Not your fault. I also think illness, many animals will go off by themselves when they are not well. Things like this break our hearts & send hints of doubt into our psyche...