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Lost our first chicken today

2K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  mickster71 
#1 ·
We have no idea what happened. This morning hubby checked on the girls and they were all fine and squawking... he went out to get the eggs and one of the barred rock was in the coop, gasping for air. He got her out and set her down, and she just sat there and gasped. Comb looked purple and she didn't lay today. My youngest met me at the garage door with this look, we moved her into the garage and tried to massage her throat and tummy. don't really know what we were doing other than trying to see if it made her better. We left her alone for a bit, then she started flipping around and then she was gone.

All the other girls are fine, healthy looking, laying and eating good. I just cried....
 
#8 ·
well ya'll know how we lost one of the girls last week, well before she passed we were getting 5 eggs from 6 hens a day. After she passed, the next day we started getting 5 eggs from 5 hens! The last hen that I was worried about being a late bloomer, started laying. So sweet I thought.
 
#11 ·
I am sorry to hear you lost a chicken. Everyone here is right, it never gets easier. By now I own over 170 chickens, yet every time one disappears or dies (I had a cochin die from heat one summer) that seems to have been that special one.
Sometimes you just have to accept that you cannot do anything about it.
 
#12 ·
I'm sorry about your girl. When we first went to get our chicks, we only wanted two... So the breeder told us to take 4 because so often, little bitty chicks don't make it. He was correct. We did everything the breeder, the books, and our mentor said. But it was just the same as you experienced- one minute fine, the next...gone.

When we went to get our next chosen breed of hen, we followed the same rule of thumb and got 6 instead of the 3 we planned on. This time, they got to the point a lot of their feathers were even in and all was still ok- we thought we could breathe easy and had even started instead, to stress over what we were going to do with double the hens we'd planned on... Then one day, my husband heard an odd noise from one. She seemed to be sitting low and her breast heaving a bit. We didn't get a chance to do a damn thing. She blinked slowly a few times, fell over on her side and was gone. Birds are just so delicate, especially when it comes to disease and their respiratory systems.

At least she was the only one to pass. And we were fortunate enough that a neighbor who'd been wanting her own coop for a long time wanted to adopt 3 of the survivors, so we weren't over-crowded!
 
#13 ·
We have no idea what happened. This morning hubby checked on the girls and they were all fine and squawking... he went out to get the eggs and one of the barred rock was in the coop, gasping for air. He got her out and set her down, and she just sat there and gasped. Comb looked purple and she didn't lay today. My youngest met me at the garage door with this look, we moved her into the garage and tried to massage her throat and tummy. don't really know what we were doing other than trying to see if it made her better. We left her alone for a bit, then she started flipping around and then she was gone.

All the other girls are fine, healthy looking, laying and eating good. I just cried....
Sorry to hear that, must have been horrible to see and watch her struggle till she died, luckily the rest of your girls are fine , you did your best and you gave her a home, keep you're chin up
 
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