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Welcome All! I'm a dreamer, I hope you are too! A Posse ad Esse, or From possibility to reality, is a general state of mind. I hope you'll share your possibilities with me as I will with you. Namaste~

February 27, 2009

A loss today.

We had a loss on the farm today. Strangely, I can't really say what the problem was.

It was one of our brown leghorns. You may find it odd that even in a home with three kids, our chickens have no names. They're all called chicken and that's pretty much it. Maybe brown chicken or white chicken but that's about as creative as we get.

But that doesn't mean that they're any less cared for. I try to do everything I can for the most part to make sure the girls are healthy so this surprises me. I didn't notice any lethargy before hand and she wasn't all pecked at indicating that she was beaten up by the others. I found her this morning laying in the nesting box. She was still breathing but very shallowly. I picked her up intending to take her into the garage to find a warmer place to put her hoping to give her a little extra attention and bring her around. She didn't even make it to the garage and passed in my arms.

It's a sad loss, but we'll live. The boys asked what happened and I told them I wasn't sure but that it is how life works. They accepted that and didn't miss a beat. Any suggestions you all? perhaps a late cold snap? It didn't seem that cold though. Perhaps she just got sick?

On another note, tomorrows Master Gardener class is all on Vegetables!! That should be a good one...at least I hope so!
till tomorrow!
P~

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am very sorry for this loss. I do love my chickens. I sure would watch your other hens closely over the next few days. I wish i had more to offer except sympothy. If you do find out what caused this ,please share.tp

Kory said...

my condolences, I second the need to be vigilant about the others, God forbid its something contagious, does your county have any program where they will do a post mortem?

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry about your chicken, and sorry that I have no advice other than the others that I would watch the others closely. I am super excited to hear about the veggie class with the master gardener bunch!
Jo,
way down south

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry p, that's too bad about your chicken. In my experience, sometimes, this just happens. I'd keep a close eye on the flock the next few days, looking for signs of illness or parasite, but sometimes it is, just as you said...a part of life. Have a great weekend, my friend! :)

gintoino said...

I'm sorry for the death of one of your animals.Birds are masters in hiding simptomes, most of the times they only show they are hill when its well advanced. She probably was sick for a day or two. Its difficult to note small changes in their behavior spacially whan you have others. I would keep a good eye on the others.

Eva said...

Wow, I'm so sorry for your loss! Hopefully she's the only one, and the others are still healthy. It's funny how attached you get to something like a chicken. Our chicks are only 4 weeks old, I have no advice on what could have happened. Sorry.

We lost two of our healthy little chickies last week to a mongoose! We were all heart broken too.

Best of Luck!
Eva

Irma said...

I can't remember any more if I am "delurking" on a blog or not, but I THINK I am delurking to say I am very sorry for your loss.

Anonymous said...

Hey P~,

Really sorry to hear about the chook. Any more news on the others?

I have started talking to my local officials about changing the regs here to have some chooks.

With Best Regards,

ChicagoMike

P~ said...

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I've checked on the others the last couple of days and they seem normal as ever. I think she may have just had an illness or perhaps some other physical problem. I will be dilligent in watching the others for signs of illness for sure.
all the best.
P~