The Sad, Dark Side Of Chicken Keeping

The Sad, Dark Side Of Chicken Keeping-
Last week we finally lost Gwynne my sweet little hen. I came home from work and went out to check on her since she never came down from a nesting box. She was sort of falling over in the nesting box and not looking well at all. I brought her in and put her in a laundry basket to see what was going on. It was really obvious to me she didn't have much time left. I tried to give her a little food and water but she didn't really respond. I put her on top of a thick towel and left her in the laundry basket in the living room. I kept an eye on her all evening. She died about 3 hours later pretty peacefully. A lot of people promote keeping chickens as a really fun hobby- lots of great free eggs and they eat lots of bugs and weeds. Nobody really talks about trying to diagnose sick chickens, trying to treat them at home, and then losing them. Say you're outside, you see one of your really healthy hens really active. They're laying, eating and look great. It's really frustrating and sad when you come out one hour later and they're just dead in the garden. No sign of injury or attack, just laying there, dead.

I read chickens can actually have heart attacks, which is not a lot of comfort when it happens to one of your own. I can see if you had a large commercial flock, with hundreds of chickens, losing one occasionally is not a big deal. If you have three or four and you raise them from chicks by hand it's a little different kettle of fish-

So cute!

We have a small flock, so you really get to know their personalities and you get more attached. Gwynne, for instance, was the smallest of the three, had been picked on a lot and needed extra TLC from time to time. Rosie is our big Rhode Island red mama, protects everybody and is also very domineering, to the other hens. Ellie our Barred Rock is the sky is falling chicken. I don't know what it is but every Barred Rock I've ever owned is skittish, shy and flies off the handle for no apparent reason. Maybe it's genetics?

Buff Orpingtons

Anyway after losing Gwynne I started thinking about the other chickens I've lost, some from worms, one from fly strike, and others from who knows what? With Gwynne it was obvious what happened since Dave saw it. A bad fall in the coop, getting knocked off the upper roost in the dark. She probably hit something on the way down and had some kind of major fracture or internal damage or both. She lasted several weeks with home treatment. Sadly most chicken owners can't find, or afford, a Vet for this kind of thing.

Fun digging

I think the best thing to ruminate on if you're are thinking about starting a flock of this- there's tons of information online and books about keeping chickens. BUT nobody talks much about the mental or emotional impact of all this. It's frustrating, it's sad. You feel GUILTY when these things happen thinking- what could I have done differently? You feel pretty STUPID when your hen just dropped dead out in the garden with no symptoms. Dave's been very gracious and digging holes for me in the garden to bury most of them. You dig deep, get a nice old pillowcase and let them spend eternity communing with the worms. One hen who died from fly strike and was covered in maggots. She was gone, and the smell was awful, so what can you do? In a trash bag, in the garbage can.

Hopefully think about this before you start investing financially and mentally, be aware you will also be investing emotionally. I hope this all makes sense? Here's another post about this Dark Side of Keeping Chickens  Keeping chickens is a great thing, and very rewarding. I have learned from my mistakes and manage my hens better now. I try to keep them healthy and safe. You do what you can, but buyer beware.