Our beloved silklie rooster died yesterday

[Jarsheart]

Our 3 year old white silkie rooster died yesterday. He had been successfully fighting off dry avian pox, then I noticed he was lethargic. After 2 days, I rushed him to the vet. He was severely anemic. He was hospitalized, tube fed and transfused. This was on Friday. He seemed to be getting better, but the treatment just delayed his death. We are devastated. The vet is not sure what caused his severe anemia. He will be necropsied today. Thank God we have six babies fathered by him. We dusted the coop for mites (not that we saw mites), put vita mate plus in the water, and de-wormer in the food. Much to my surprise, the hens are thin and anemic. They were vaccinated for avian pox, so I don't know what is going on. I am terrified that I may lose the whole flock. Just needed to share this with other "chicken people" who understand. Everyone else thinks I am crazy.

 

[suburbanhomesteader]

Keeping my fingers crossed that all will be well

 

[Dora'smom]

I'm so sorry you lost your beloved roo.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[SweetTea]

I'm new to the chicken thing, but already am so very attached to them. My sincere sympathies for your loss.

 

[Jarsheart]

Thanks for the kind words. I cry, stop, go in denial then cry again. I can't accept that he is gone. I am tormenting myself over what I could have/should have done to prevent this from happening. He was truly a unique, one of a kind rooster. His babies don't even have his gentle temperment. He could be held like a beautiful doll for as long as we liked, but he was all business in the coop. Broke up fights between the hens, and protected the babies when I pulled them out for pasty butt. And such a beauty. A pet quality bird from Bobbi Porto, an imperfection in his comb was the only thing keeping him from show quality. Chickens are such great pets, it is horrible that they there are so many things that can go wrong, and so fast too. My animals are my children, and he was the cream of the crop. I feel like such a failure. I just want a time machine to take me back and prevent what happened.

 

[SunshineSilkies]

I am sorry for your loss..

It is devasting to me when I lose my silkies. I become so attached to them. In the trememdous heat and humidity we have had here, I lost 2 of my best white hens in a 10 day period..no sickness..nothing...I think they overheated. I cried and cried. My hubby had to bury them. Couldn't do it myself....I understand what you are going thru..

 

[BayouPoules]

You poor Darlen,.. I am so sorry,.. it's so hard to lose a pet we care about,.. I sure do hope all the rest are fine.

 

[Jarsheart]

Quote:
What a shock that must have been. How tragic. I am in West Palm Beach, and the heat, rain and mosquitoes have made things miserable here too. The rooster is still at the vet's office, I have not heard back from them regarding the necropsy. Sorry for your loss, and hoping that things get better for both of our flocks.

 

[suburbanhomesteader]

Please let us know if they find anything in the necropsy.

I lost 3 hens to the heat this summer, and I am doing everything except air conditioning the place!

Please don't beat yourself up too much; I am absolutely certain you did everything you knew to do, and if you learn of something else, you'll do that in the future. Every day in every way, each of us does the best we can with what we know.

It's so hard to lose someone or something we love. One of the things I've discovered about having a lot of animals in my life is that their life span is much shorter than ours. So while they add to the quality of life so much, unfortunately we end up saying goodbye to them much sooner than we would prefer.