Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

The temperature is 37 and sunny; supposed to be down to 19 tonight.

Have a great day!

 

[Sortacountrychicken]

She had the will to hang on to life for a long time then, I suppose she had moments when she felt better. I agree that it's really hard to make the decision for them. I don't have a vet for my chicken either. I suppose a vet could help knowing that a chicken has no chance of healing so it would be easier to make the decision to end it's suffering.

Yes, she had a good quality of life up until very recently. She would have an occasional day when she seemed unwell but spent most days foraging and generally being a chicken. She actually had a tendency to wander quite far from everyone else so I was a bit surprised she wasn't killed by some kind of predator during the summer.

 

[DobieLover]

That suggests to me that I may be leaving it too late.

Probably.
A vet once said to me "I've never euthanized a pet too soon but have euthanized many far too late".
I watch my flock closely for the first sign of abnormal behavior. The coop cameras help immensely with this as I can see their normal behavior without them seeing me. I was able to treat a pullet with a partially impacted crop because I discovered it early. It took 3 days to fully clear the plumbing on this girl and she has hated my guts ever since.
I was able to see the WLH's and Una's early signs of decline and let them go when they were clearly past the point of enjoying life.
I do not bury my birds. I take them far from my property to be shot and leave them for an animal to take. Some may be offended by this. But I would rather that the loss of a life enable the extension of another vs having the body just rot in the ground. After all, the essence of the bird is no long inhabiting the body. It's just her body.

 

[Molpet]

I take them far from my property to be shot and leave them for an animal to take.

If they had a disease this could spread it to wildlife.

 

[Solanacae]

Probably.
A vet once said to me "I've never euthanized a pet too soon but have euthanized many far too late".
I watch my flock closely for the first sign of abnormal behavior. The coop cameras help immensely with this as I can see their normal behavior without them seeing me. I was able to treat a pullet with a partially impacted crop because I discovered it early. It took 3 days to fully clear the plumbing on this girl and she has hated my guts ever since.
I was able to see the WLH's and Una's early signs of decline and let them go when they were clearly past the point of enjoying life.
I do not bury my birds. I take them far from my property to be shot and leave them for an animal to take. Some may be offended by this. But I would rather that the loss of a life enable the extension of another vs having the body just rot in the ground. After all, the essence of the bird is no long inhabiting the body. It's just her body.

I bury my chickens in the garden. My neighbors close by would make it a bit difficult to leave the body for predators without someone running into it. My house is near a river and the garden is the only place where I can dig easily and not hit a big rock every other shovelful, so there’s a certain amount of practicality (laziness?) going into that decision.

The decomposing body will also enrich the soil and plants will grow better over it, so it’s just returning to the circle of life in a different spot than leaving it out for a predator’s meal.

I’ve considered getting coop cameras, haven’t made that plunge yet though. My husband was fine with the automatic door opener because I was able to justify the expense due to work schedules. Cameras are a little more tricky to justify, I think.

 

[DobieLover]

If they had a disease this could spread it to wildlife.

Reproductive cancer is not contagious.
Neither is getting fatally mauled by a GSD.
Or an incurable vent prolapse.
Or a hen and a cockerel that flew into the coop/run wall and broke their necks.
Or a hawk strike fatality.
Regardless, most diseases of poultry would not be communicable to mammalian predators.
Last I checked, I don't have disease in my flock.

 

[DobieLover]

My neighbors close by would make it a bit difficult to leave the body for predators without someone running into it.

Not a problem for me.
The chickens area is circled in blue.
The red X's mark the locations chickens have been left.

 

[Solanacae]

Not a problem for me.
The chickens area is circled in blue.
The red X's mark the locations chickens have been left.
View attachment 2976679

Wow, I love the space you have! I’m moving to a more populated area than where I am now (husband’s new job), so I’ll have to start covertly keeping chickens, as my flock of 10 is bigger than almost all of the areas we have been house hunting allow. But as long as no one complains, I’ll just carry on with my ladies!

 

[Solanacae]

Off topic tax:

My son made tuna melts but didn’t keep an eye on them while they were broiling. So they got a bit too crispy . . . and the chickens got a warm, high calorie treat on a cold winter day. No scratch for these girls today!

 

[Ladies-Eight]

I do not bury my birds. I take them far from my property to be shot and leave them for an animal to take. Some may be offended by this. But I would rather that the loss of a life enable the extension of another vs having the body just rot in the ground. After all, the essence of the bird is no long inhabiting the body. It's just her body.

I agree with you related to sustenance of life.

In the wild if an animal dies another animal will feed on it which helps with the proliferation of life.

Live and let live.