Save a hen, close the pen!

[Fuzzy Clucker]

I lost a bird this evening, one of 6 beautiful hens, and I feel bad for her. It sucks for a couple reasons..first off, it was my fault, I didn't close the main gate in time after they went inside for the night. They free range around during the day and then go in on their own at night. We have a hutch they roost in at night, and it's located inside of a fenced in coupe with a closable door that was here when we recently moved here. It'll all be redone when we have time.

It's not the most ideal setup yet but we just moved into this 4 acre place. This was only about 30 mins into dark. I'm thinking coyote. My dog Ginger came out barking for about 5 solid minutes and I didn't think much of it, but when I realized she was onto something, I used the flash light and only saw 5 hens in the hutch (1 open space) and a bunch of feathers on the ground at the base.

I feel bad because she was in her "safe place" for the night trusting that it was safe like all other nights. And second, it sucks because it was very close with one of the other birds. They were brought home together when they were very small and did EVERYTHING together. So I feel bad that tomorrow Sophie won't have her shadow by her side.

Am I taking it too seriously? Probably, but as many of you on here know, it's SO easy to get attatched to these soft fuzzy critters. These are layers and not for eating. This particular bird never did lay a egg though. She was probably about 8 months old or a bit more. I used to think chickens were just animals that lay eggs and then you eat them, yeah right, these crazy birds actually have personalities! And they're just so pretty! These are really my wife's birds, but from the first day she brought Elly home, I realized that there was no way I could ever harm that cute bird. (or any of them for that matter)

Anyway, this thread is in honor of ole' fuzzy beard, an Americana that was huge, cute, and had a face full of feathers and will definitely be missed. (mostly by Sophie tomorrow)

RIP Americana (can't remember the actual name my wife gave her) she's the big one in the middle, and of course Sophie is right behind her



far left (right next to Sophie)

 

[hchorselover]

I just lost one of my 7 hens to. It was my fault also, and my rooster, Bruce and her grew up together and would "call" for each other when they were separated. It is VERY easy to become attacked to them :') but I'm sure she had a happy life. And Sophie will be fine, It may sound kinda mean but when Betsy died the rooster just kinda forgot about her and started to hang around the other chickens. *RIP Americana*

PS it wasen't your fault, it was an accident don't lame your self

 

[Fuzzy Clucker]

Thanks for your reply hchorselover, Sophie is doing good. I know it's wrong to put human emotions into pets, but I think we all have a habit of doing it sometimes. Trust me, my wife Meredith tells me this all the time when she sees how I act with Ginger, our dog. We got 2 more birds recently and one is an Americana and is a spitting image of the one we lost, even has the same name, (which I can't remember right now) and the other bird is one Mer and a friend picked up (for ther friend to keep here until her parents get a setup for it at their house) and the kind that has the feathers on the feet. Those feet feathers are a trip. I noticed some birds have them when I was at the feed store. I'll post some new pics soon. Chicken birds are cool!

 

[chkn]

Awww, I love my little (or big I should say) americanas.

 

[Fuzzy Clucker]

Yeah, they sure are big aren't they! Americana is the perfect name since us Americans like things BIG. Maybe their original origin is Texas? hahahaha

 

[obaan1]

You have a tender heart and there is no need to apologize for that. Plus, you have had another life lesson. I'm betting you won't flunk the next test. Best of luck from my hens to yours.