Support groups for lost chickens

[Miss Sebright]

I recently lost my River... Long story short, Fire men came to the house, no one was home, searched the house, found no one and left. Our front door opens inward, it's at the top of a stairway. River was a house chicken, when we left the house she waited at the top of the stairway with the dogs untill we got home. She was on the top step, the firemen opened the door, she was banged against the wall and was killed. They didn't even leave a note or wait till we got home and tell us. Needless to say I don't particularly like firemen, even though it wasn't their fault.

 

[geebs]

I lost my favorite little hen during the snowstorm here and l looked and I looked and I couldn't find her anywhere... that was 2 weeks ago... I found her... she tipped over and feed pan and was underneath it... I should have flipped it back over... but it was an icky one cause of the weather and I just put a new one down instead.. so today I went to clean out the storm damage (I had aviary netting down and everything) and that is when I found her... so sad... she appeared to be asleep sitting upright like she would on her nest.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

Oh Miss Sebright that's sooooo terrible!!!!!! I had a little kitten get accidently kicked into a wall by my brother's friend who was charging down the hallway once. It was awful.

Lil' bugger didn't make it...
And then a few years ago We had our 3 chickens stolen out of the coop! And there's no way a racoon or dog got in there...
To the OP, I know how much chickens can be a part of the family. It is hard, even when they are that young, to loose them. One of my first chickens died when she was only a week old. And I've had a rescued lab puppy tear one of our hens to pieces. I am so sorry for your loss, it's hard to get over it but you will! I promise.

 

[Miss Sebright]

Thanks cat_named_noodles, I've mostly moved on, but I still half exspect her to be sitting on the back of the armchair when we watch a movie.

 

[SmartyChick]

My hen went broody and we bought her 12 fertile eggs... only two hatched, she ate three (freaked during hatch), broke three (early on), and the rest didn't even hatch at all. We bought 5 more babies the next day for a total of 7 chicks... All was going well for several weeks when my dog got loose and ate my favorite chick peanut.

I could have used a support group for that, but that was several months ago. But I still feel sad about my bittersweet hatch, and lost Peanut.

 

[smithzoo100]

I have lost many feathered friends over many, many years. Someday I will tell their stories, but right now this is not the venue for that.... To the op, I do hope that you found what you were looking for when you posted this thread. Off to take care of the ones that are here. I find that they are the best support group of all!!

 

[BigSkyChickens]

"Chickens come and chickens go."
That's what DBF and I have been saying since we lost "Buffy the Bug Slayer" in November. And acceptance that chicken life spans are short is really helping me out.

A chicken's life expectancy is SO much shorter than a human's.......and I think that's where we get into trouble, emotionally. We let ourselves get attached to creatures more impermanent that us. Depending on how you look at it, I think attachment can be a burden AND it can be a gift.