The "Show Quality" pair I bought yesterday..one is dead (update on 14)

[mycutekitties]

Just had a "feeling" about this place and I should have went with my gut. I bought a pair of "show quality" Polish's for my daughter who just started 4-H. Found them on Craigslist. The hen was "calm" when we were holding her and I thought "I'm so glad she is not wild and she might be able to do showmanship with this bird". When we got home I put them in my "hospital" because it's away from my birds. I put them in 2 different cages. Went in this morning, found the hen laying on her side not dead yet. Went inside the house to talk to my husband and went back out and she had died.
I called the "breeder" and told her I wanted to bring BOTH back and get my money back. She said fine but she won't be home until tomorrow at 3:30. I don't want him on my property so I asked if there is any way we could come anytime today. She said "Sorry out of town..." UGGH!!!! They live 45 min away so it's not like I can just drive there and see. I have a feeling she is going to flake out on us.
My daughter is so hartbroken. I am so upset because I feel I should have known. I'm new with this showing stuff and don't even know what to look for when buying a bird. I feel sick...
This was Goldilocks:

and Steve:

 

[theoldchick]

Goodness, I hate to hear stories like this. Truly she was a beauty. Show quality or not, I hate to lose any of them.

 

[19hhbelgian]

Aww sorry bout your loss. Did she feel thin or anything abnormal? A lot of people will say polish are flighty but mine are really quiet birds, so she might have been more of a laid back hen. My point being, is there anything she could have flew into over night, even the pen itself, and hurt herself? I had a Phoenix roo do that one night. He got spooked and flew off the perch right in to the wall and that was that.

She couldve done the same thing as my rooster. Is 'Steve' acting healthy? Any signs that something is wrong with him? Was the place you got them from really dirty and disgusting or just a lot of birds? You didn't elaborate on why you "should've known"...

 

[NewHopePoultry]

So sorry for your loss

 

[danischi24]

That hen looks sick in the photo. The angle of her head, the way she's holding with her feet etc. She has a limp look. Hope it works out for you in the end.

 

[PamB]

OMG! That is awful! I'm SO sorry you and your daughter are going through this.

 

[FoodKillah]

very sorry for your daughter, she didnt really have the time to "love" the bird, maybe she shouldnt take any part on your issue with the bird breeder that sells chickens on death raw and just get her a new bird?

just saying..

I will never say to my daughter that our favorite chicken died and the garbage track just picked her up, neither that the other two eggs in the incubator died after hatching and went in the waste bin, try to focus on the good news. You are getting a NEW super good looking pretty, show winner chicken, arent you?

 

[mycutekitties]

I told her that we were going to bring Steve back and then have the money to get another bird she can show. She liked the Polishes so I will have to work on finding her some. I think I'm done with Craigslist.
This has been a major learing experience for me.

 

[mycutekitties]

Quote:
Steve is acting fine. The place was FULL of birds in small cages. The place was a dump. As soon as we saw them I got a bad feeling. BUT we (my husband, myself and my daughter) have been wanting a Polish pair and our "wanting" got the best of us.
Never again....

 

[newgoosegirl]

Quote:
So you would just lie to your kids? That doesn't seem fair. We all live in the same world, do we not? People who are smaller and don't have as much life experience as you are still people, correct? Kids'll have to deal with it sometime. Anyway, wouldn't it be better to talk about it for the first time with a favorite chicken than with a family member or friend who you can't just try and replace?

Those were real pretty chickens, mycutekitties. It's awful that you've had such a bad experience with this.