What do you do with your dead (chickens, ducks, quail, etc...)

[Naughtychickenmama]

I give my babies a sweet burial in an area I called the graveyard. I just lost to do to anemia and Red mites. I'm not certain that's what it is but that's their signs and symptoms thanks to this website. I'm treating them with DE and a garden dust mix and I'm going to scramble them eggs today and give spinish for a few...
Thank you for all that I'm able to learn on this website. hopefully I don't lose anymore. The two roosters that died I wonder if they came with those mites as I have never had an issue for the three years I've had chickens until I got 3 chickens that turned out to be roosters two of them have already died. I don't see anybody else in the flock exhibiting those symptoms but I'm going to treat them all just the same. Thanks again for your information and including me into the team

 

[room onthebroom]

I give my babies a sweet burial in an area I called the graveyard. I just lost to do to anemia and Red mites. I'm not certain that's what it is but that's their signs and symptoms thanks to this website. I'm treating them with DE and a garden dust mix and I'm going to scramble them eggs today and give spinish for a few...
Thank you for all that I'm able to learn on this website. hopefully I don't lose anymore. The two roosters that died I wonder if they came with those mites as I have never had an issue for the three years I've had chickens until I got 3 chickens that turned out to be roosters two of them have already died. I don't see anybody else in the flock exhibiting those symptoms but I'm going to treat them all just the same. Thanks again for your information and including me into the team

You are certainly welcome here! I'm sorry about your losses. There is some controversy as to whether DE will actually kill mites on birds. If you have time, you might want to search BYC for things like Ivermectin and/or Permethrin. Good luck! I hope you can get it cleared up.

 

[aart]

I'm treating them with DE and a garden dust mix

Welcome to BYC!
Yeah, skip the DE.
Look at the label on the 'garden dust' and see what the active ingredients are, many have permethrin which will work.......but if you have mites, you need to treat the whole coop which is much easier using liquid permethrin.

 

[Gargoyle]

We have a little cemetery in our back yard. Some get their own stones, some who were really close friends will share a stone. If you look closely at the photo, you'll see four stones in the background besides the new one for Buffy.

 

[chikiada]

Considering that I'm not certain what killed it, there's no way I'm feeding it to me or my chickens. I generally just toss them in the woods.

 

[chikiada]

We haven't lost too many however we do bury them. We have a cemetary for
our old dogs and put little chicks there also. We are in the high dessert area in
Baja California, Mexico and get snow in winter so some times the turkeys don't
come in out of the weather and have died from cold. Not God's smartest creatures. We have buried some large barrels in the ground and put shavings
in them to train them to roost in barrels instead of the trees...should be interesting to see what happens...might need to hang them in trees instead.

 

[NinjaChicken617]

I lost a 1-day chick who went into the freezer and then into the trash. It felt wrong and awful, honestly, but I didn't have many options at the time with the ground still frozen and whatnot. When I lost a 12-week pullet to a hawk I buried what was left of her. She had a name and a personality and ate from my hand, so I couldn't bear to do anything but give her a proper burial. I don't eat chicken at all, and don't feed chicken to any of my other animals, so I wouldn't eat any of my birds myself. When they are done laying I will give them to someone I know who will dispatch them humanely and feed them to his family or his other animals. If someone were critically sick or injured, I would do what needs to be done to end their suffering, but I hope I don't have to. I know it may seem silly to some, but "the girls" are living things that are worthy of my respect. They contribute to my life and ask very little in return, so I feel that I should treat them with dignity.

 

[Oceanbyrd]

I chose “bury them”. I am disabled and don’t have money to send off a chicken to be autopsied. The cost in our area to send it off is too high and our local small town vet is awesome, but doesn’t see chickens.

I’ve kept chickens almost 10 years and have only lost 5 girls. Two died due to a dog attack. Two showed multiple symptoms of being egg-bound, despite care one died itself and the other I culled. One laid a lash egg so had an infection inside and started looking poorly enough despite care that I culled her. The attacked ones were too torn up to eat and the others I felt should probably not be eaten, especially as I have an autoimmune disease called Lupus.

I felt the best option in any case was to bury them deep.

 

[perchie.girl]

We haven't lost too many however we do bury them. We have a cemetary for
our old dogs and put little chicks there also. We are in the high dessert area in
Baja California, Mexico and get snow in winter so some times the turkeys don't
come in out of the weather and have died from cold. Not God's smartest creatures. We have buried some large barrels in the ground and put shavings
in them to train them to roost in barrels instead of the trees...should be interesting to see what happens...might need to hang them in trees instead.

cickiada... my place is in the high desert near Baja.... i make my coops out of Chainlink Dog kennel panels... with a wind break on the windward side. Tarpes over the top to protect from snow ... Then pull down tarps on the winter wind side... Everyone does quite well as long as they go in and get locked up....

I have only lost animals to predators not the cold....

My place is in Jacumba. near Bankhead Springs.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

I lost a 1-day chick who went into the freezer and then into the trash. It felt wrong and awful, honestly, but I didn't have many options at the time with the ground still frozen and whatnot. When I lost a 12-week pullet to a hawk I buried what was left of her. She had a name and a personality and ate from my hand, so I couldn't bear to do anything but give her a proper burial. I don't eat chicken at all, and don't feed chicken to any of my other animals, so I wouldn't eat any of my birds myself. When they are done laying I will give them to someone I know who will dispatch them humanely and feed them to his family or his other animals. If someone were critically sick or injured, I would do what needs to be done to end their suffering, but I hope I don't have to. I know it may seem silly to some, but "the girls" are living things that are worthy of my respect. They contribute to my life and ask very little in return, so I feel that I should treat them with dignity.

Any that get names get buried... I have never lost to illness. Though predators where I am do get more than their share.

But showing respect and dignaty is part of good husbandry... My grandpa was a share cropper pets werent allowed... Rules for the kids... Chickens got fed cows got milked on time and every single animal on that farm were cared for not abused ever. Dad said he forgot to give the cow a tub of water when he put her out in the front yard to eat the grass.... and He got a whoop-pin...

deb