Over 3 years of keeping hens, I've had several hens become "egg bound" (I believe) and they wind up dying slowly over the course of a week, the poor things seem so miserable, that I've considered "ending their suffering" and giving them a quick death. But my wife says we should allow them to die naturally.
This is the part of keeping chickens that I don't like--when they get ill, I feel that since they give their all for us, that we owe them medical care when they become ill--but we are retired, we have no extra money to consult vets, etc., so all we can do is give them a dry place to sleep, and enough food and clean water, and if they become ill, they have to either fight through it or expire. How about you? What do you do? Do you attempt medical interventions on your sick hens?
This is the part of keeping chickens that I don't like--when they get ill, I feel that since they give their all for us, that we owe them medical care when they become ill--but we are retired, we have no extra money to consult vets, etc., so all we can do is give them a dry place to sleep, and enough food and clean water, and if they become ill, they have to either fight through it or expire. How about you? What do you do? Do you attempt medical interventions on your sick hens?