UPDATED: sick hen lost quite a bit of weight.

[jasonm11]

I apreciate all the advise on my hen. In the end I could not deal with her loosing so much weight and making no rear progress. I ended up dispatching her last night and cleaning up her portable pen. I think it was an impacted crop as when i fed her it became very distended and did not seem to clear out until the next morning ( i was only feeding her liquids). i did find out she has a few mites, little cream colored buggers about the size of a sesame seed. I wil check the rest of my flock for the same and I guess treat them for mites and worms at the same time.

Thanks again for the help.
Jason M.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Sorry to hear you lost her, but sometimes it is just effort in futility. Tha average chicken is worth about $7. Whaat we go through just to get a few eggs is a bit more. So, we make that decision to move on.
Good luck with the rest and get that Sevin and Vaseline going for the mites.
Happy Turkey Day.

 

[jjthink]

To many, a living being's worth has nothing whatsoever to do with the initial cost of acquiring them. Any being in my care is priceless to me.

People value beings anywhere from zero to priceless, depending upon their individual philosophy.

This is a separate issue from whether or not one has the means to help a living being in their care.

JJ

 

[Minniechickmama]

I really don't mean to offend anyone who loves their chickens as part of their families. I love mine too, but when you have one that has problems that just aren't going to get better, there comes a point where you have to ask, what is best for both of you.

But I also reserve the right to treat my flock as a cost effective tool. As long as I am treating my birds humanely and dispatching them in that manner without pain or suffering, then I have no regret nor do I make any apologies.

I guess growing up on a farm taught me the value of livestock and the value of a pet.

 

[jjthink]

But I also reserve the right to treat my flock as a cost effective tool. As long as I am treating my birds humanely and dispatching them in that manner without pain or suffering, then I have no regret nor do I make any apologies.

I do understand. It's just that when people write things like this

Tha average chicken is worth about $7

as though a statement of fact rather than opinion (so often done on BYC about one thing or another), I feel compelled to note that some of us feel differently. Easily fixed. One can just say something like "In my opinion....the average chicken is worth about $7" rather than stating as if a universal fact. There are impressionable minds reading stuff on the internet so I try to remember to do the same so they can distinguish between fact and opinion (as I hope I conveyed with:

Any being in my care is priceless to me

), though probably have not always succeeded!
Peace, and happy T-giving. JJ​