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It was hard,but tonight we knew the only kind thing to do was put her out of her suffering
We got her and her sis Dandelion almost two years ago.We'd had the ISA's for a couple of months and wanted to add a couple of 'pets' to the flock.
Last year she hatched(almost)our first lot of chicks and it seems that since then she was never really quite right.We had a Summer of frequent bum cleaning and I don't think she ever started laying again...but she'd perk up at food time and although distant seemed happy.Over winter the need to clean her stopped and I really thought we'd turned a corner but then come Spring the dirty bum was back...I've lost count of the cleans she's already had this yearI came close a couple of weeks ago to getting a friend to do the deed.
Tonight she looked particularly pathetic and I noticed some blood spots in the coop...immediately knew it had to be from her...checked her vent and she had fly strike
...I toyed with the idea of trying to clean her upand treat it but in my heart knew that although I 'might' be able to rectify it,the underlying cause would still be there.
Neither I nor Andi could bring ourselves to do it so I spent an hour walking the lottie asking if anyone could...almost gave up and saw a couple I'd never met before.Felt a little odd introducing myself and immediately asking him if he could do it,initially he said no but when he realised she was suffering came over and helped...for which I shall forever feel indebted.
Feeling a bit crap...she was my first favourite and her and Dandelion had remained Mother Hens amongst the group...there was an unusual amount of squabbling going on in the coop when they put themselves to bed,so they obviously realise she's gone...hopefully things will settle fairly quickly.
We got her and her sis Dandelion almost two years ago.We'd had the ISA's for a couple of months and wanted to add a couple of 'pets' to the flock.
Last year she hatched(almost)our first lot of chicks and it seems that since then she was never really quite right.We had a Summer of frequent bum cleaning and I don't think she ever started laying again...but she'd perk up at food time and although distant seemed happy.Over winter the need to clean her stopped and I really thought we'd turned a corner but then come Spring the dirty bum was back...I've lost count of the cleans she's already had this year
I came close a couple of weeks ago to getting a friend to do the deed.Tonight she looked particularly pathetic and I noticed some blood spots in the coop...immediately knew it had to be from her...checked her vent and she had fly strike
...I toyed with the idea of trying to clean her upand treat it but in my heart knew that although I 'might' be able to rectify it,the underlying cause would still be there.Neither I nor Andi could bring ourselves to do it so I spent an hour walking the lottie asking if anyone could...almost gave up and saw a couple I'd never met before.Felt a little odd introducing myself and immediately asking him if he could do it,initially he said no but when he realised she was suffering came over and helped...for which I shall forever feel indebted.
Feeling a bit crap...she was my first favourite and her and Dandelion had remained Mother Hens amongst the group...there was an unusual amount of squabbling going on in the coop when they put themselves to bed,so they obviously realise she's gone...hopefully things will settle fairly quickly.
...he said he'd done it in the past,but I still don't think it was something he enjoyed,I hope I've not spoilt his weekend.
One Love & Unity
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