Just lost my first hen... Having a hard time with it

[BlueKittyMeow]

Yesterday we had our first loss - my sister found our easter egger, Dot, in the coop dead.
She seemed to have a prolapsed vent and some minor trauma around the area. Perhaps she was egg bound? An easter egg did show up in the nest box yesterday, and she's the only colored layer we had.
I am heartbroken. I miss her and I'm sorry she died so young (not even quite 1 year old - she would be July 12th), but mostly I just feel terrible at the thought that she died painfully.

I understand that we will have losses.
I have had... so many pets over the years.
It just doesn't ever get any easier for me, losing an animal, and the small flock we have are our pets.

I am so broken up over this and heartsick for the poor girl.

I guess I just needed someplace to write this down. If I can manage looking at pictures of her again, I'll try to post one later.

She was such a grumpy lady, didn't like being picked up like the others, but I loved her so much. She seemed entirely foolish - the first time we put a chicken saddle on her she was jogging, doing laps around the coop, absolutely baffled by it and trying to run out of it - so funny to watch her antics. I loved her entirely, acerbic personality and all, and I miss her. Mostly, I hope so badly that she didn't die painfully and suffer.

 

[N F C]

I am so sorry for your loss. To me, this is the hardest part of having any pet, whether it be a chicken, dog, cat, etc. It's nice what you wrote about her. Take some solace from knowing she was well loved and taken care of. We're never ready for when this happens.

 

[Toddrick]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[BlueKittyMeow]

Thank you so much <3
You're right, this is the hardest part - I think because each loss is different, there's something different to mourn and miss in each loss. For those of us who think of our pets as our friends and our responsibilities, there is the missing of our friend and the added burden of responsibility and wondering if we could have prevented it.

In this case, I am taking your words to heart - her life may have been short, but she was one spoiled and free chicken.
Thank you again.

 

[BlueKittyMeow]

Thank you, Toddrick, I appreciate it.

 

[Lovechicks122]

I know that feeling lost my baby barbed rock and I cryed for hours but I'm only 11 years old

 

[BlueKittyMeow]

Here are some pictures of her. I started with her grown up - I added her juvenile and baby pics at the end. It was really hard for me to look at them right now, but I wanted to have her pictures all together up here.

Here she is:

Here she is, all proud, grumpy dot, standing at attention.


Surveying her domain.


Dot and Alex on a hot day.


Another picture of Dot with Alex.

On to her younger pictures:


Here she is, the lightest one, all inquisitive.


I love this picture of her at the back - that was her personality exactly. Always curious, always a little judgmental, always fascinating.


Grumping over to the right.

And here is the picture giving me the hardest time, but she was such a cute little innocent chick:

Dot's baby picture. You can see the little black dot near my pinkie - the dot was her namesake. She was supposed to be named "Inara" after a woman from the show "Firefly" but she was so simple and forthright and downright grumpy that I started calling her Dot and the name just stuck.

So Dot, here's to you - you might not have loved us at all, but we all loved you dearly and miss you.

 

[Lovechicks122]

So sorry.... That barrbed Rock looks like the one I lost....R.I.P Dot and R.I.P my Abby girl

 

[BlueKittyMeow]

Aww Lovechicks, thank you and I'm sorry to you as well.
Thanks for your kind words.
The rocks are just lovely birds - they all are really. <3

 

[3goodeggs]

I know that feeling lost my baby barbed rock and I cryed for hours but I'm only 11 years old

Pain is pain, and it is a legitimate emotion no matter what your age is.
Don't let anyone tell you that your feelings are silly or ridiculous. They are your feelings.
I hope you are feeling better.

Sometimes the loss of things tip the scale and we seem to cry harder than we should... but everything piles up. Cry when you need to cry. Let it out and don't swallow the pain. It will make you sick. Deal with as you need to deal with it.

I am sorry for all of your losses. Sometimes we even tell ourselves,"This is ridiculous, what am I doing?" You are feeling what you need to feel.
If you felt nothing, then you should worry. Love is a good thing. Having compassion and heart are good things.