Remembering the birds we lost in 2010, and hoping 2011 will be better!

[SilverPhoenix]

Quote:
Not hijacking in the slightest! This is what the thread is for. I'm so sorry about your Princess...

Sometimes even those with short lives end up touching us permanently. That is their legacy, I suppose. Even when they die prematurely and don't live long, sometimes their gift is that they teach us something important, something that will save the lives of birds down the line and teach us to give our chickens better lives.

 

[buildingmyark]

Yall are so making me cry. I'll have to pull myself together and have a large glass of wine before I share anything.

 

[PepsNick]

R.I.P. -

Liz-Lemon #2
Salt
Joonbug
Liz-Lemon #3

Let 2011 be a much better year free of disease and predators.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

On December 20th, 2009, I lost a beautiful, friendly RIR hen named Einstein. Best we can tell, a hawk or an owl got her.


OK, I know that's a few days before the beginning of 2010, but we still miss her anyway.


RIP Einstein

 

[kipepeo]

Well this year was going better but did have a predator take 3 girls


Beauty


Zoe


Joey

Then my dog got out of the brand new fenced in yard and killed 6 girls and 1 rooo 1 year to the day of my neighbors dog wiping out most of my flock last year


Paprika


Big Bertha


Gwendolyn


Sybil


Platnimum


Our favorite girl Ester the Easter Egger

The above were all in the last month

Then we also lost one of our first ducks we got this spring

Cream

 

[gryeyes]

Hillary and the first Rhoda were killed by my dachshund when they were pretty young. They were two of my first, small flock. Zorro is an elderly dog, and totally surprised me.

My lovely, sweet, lavender Ellen. I think she was eggbound.

This is Betsy and Laverne at 10 weeks - Laverne & Shirley were two Welsummer sisters, I still have Shirley. Laverne got caught in a bit of fencing and died - probably of panic while trying to escape it - while I was at work. I felt so bad about her death.

Millicent flew up onto the coop, up into a tree and over the fence into the neighbor's yard to be chased by their Golden Retriever and caught by their Rottweiler. The neighbor was MORTIFIED and terribly apologetic.

Zorro the former chicken killer has been trained not to chase, harass, molest, or otherwise mess with the chickens at all. I worked with him, the ducks worked on him, and Matilda reinforced the New Rules. Notice Zorro's expression in this photo?

Matilda. I really miss her. She was my most talkative, attentive, and personable hen.

Thank you, SilverPhoenix, for allowing us this method to share our grief at losing special chickens.

 

[michickenwrangler]

I lost one of my GCs to an owl last summer

In the spring, all the eggs I tried to hatch died at point of hatch

Let's hope this year goes better!

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

We lost Spud this year. She was the true pet of the flock and I think she thought she was a person. She loved to cuddle, was always immaculate, and she wasn't afraid of anything. She had been known to chase deer and peck them on the nose if they were in her way and got too close.

We had a family emergency and in my hurry to get out the door I made the split second, POOR decision to leave the chickens out while we were gone. When we returned, I knew something bad had happened. There was no flock that ran to meet us and I could see one of the hens wedged under the bush. We ran around and located everyone except Spud, and other than being frightened, they were all right with no injuries. We hunted around looking for Spud and for about a half an hour, we couldn't find her. I continued looking when I came around the corner of our carport calling her and she limped out from behind the carport. She was in horrible shape. Open wounds on her neck and tail. She was missing more than half of her feathers. The worst wound was a half dollar sized opening in her side. It was obvious she had been attacked by a dog.

We tended to her wounds for a week, and she lived happily in a kennel in the dining room. She came out every morning and let us tend her wounds. She took her vitamins, ate everything we gave her, and she wandered around the house. She was healing nicely until day 8 when she had a major prolapse laying an egg. She was in horrible pain and I knew it was over. We couldn't keep her alive anymore, it was just too cruel. My brother came out and put her down, I just couldn't do it and DH was out of town. I cried buckets, as did my son, and we buried her in the corner of the chicken yard.

I'm still tearing up at the thought, but we are looking forward to getting another batch of babies this spring.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Thank you, everyone who has posted, for sharing your stories. I think it always helps grief to know that others have felt the same pain, and to share our sadness instead of letting it all build up in us.

I know it helps me to feel better knowing we on BYC have each other to lean on and sympathize when things just aren't going right with our flocks. Many of us have lost birds in horrible ways, and while that is certainly not a good thing, at least we have a common thread that holds us together and can share the feeling instead of feeling alone or alienated.

These are sad stories, but beyond the circumstances of the deaths of the birds, there is a whole lot of love for every one of them. That by itself is a beautiful thing--certainly they were all lucky to be loved and cared for. I'm sure even those who suffered unfortunate ends had happy lives, even if they were cut short.

Anyone who has suffered a loss of their birds, one or many, to accidents or disease or old age or predators, is welcome to share in this thread.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Here's the babies I lost this year. It was my fault, as I left them in a condition for predators before we left town for Memorial Day weekend.