edharvey17 Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Hi everyone, Thought I'd share our sad news that one of the first hens we got from Eglu (for my wife's 30th birthday) died last night. As I type this, and as much of a 'bloke' as I am, I have had a little cry as it is quite upsetting - they say never get attached and they are only chickens but I say stuff that, it has been amazing fun and we know 'Hugh' (named after Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall - sure she didn't mind having a guys name!) had a fab 2 years pottering around our lovely garden with her mate Terri. However, I am a little curious of how and why she died. She is only 2 years old but I've put a couple of posts up recently as they have both stopped laying allbeit a few softies and two propper ones over 2 weeks. I've put limestone flour in their feed and Terri still seems ok - apart from looking as scraggy as always with a dirty bum! I'm not keen on doing an autopsy CSI-style and so buried her in a nice area of our garden - Terri obviously helped and ate the worms as I dug!!! I'm not looking forward to telling my wife when she returns from work tonight as I know she'll be devestated. She seemed to die in her sleep and was in the nesting box looking like she was fast asleep so it seems it was quite quick and painless - they were out in the rain yesterday evening but they've done it before so assume it isn't hypothermia or similar or since they havent been laying, a problem with their eggs?? .... any ideas welcomed as hope it was simply one of those things. I'd hate to see Terri on her own so think we'll go get two more tomorrow to keep her company but not sure if we can simply introduce them to her in the morning and hope they get on whilst we're in the garden all day? Can you help on this if anyone else had had similar experiences? Oh, one more thing, one of my homebrew bottles blew up last night and the beer splashed on my wife's picture of Hugh Fearnley on the fridge so we had to throw it away - seems a bit spooky that her namesake left the home on the same day too.....??? Rest in peace beautiful Hugh xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 very sorry to hear your news. I had a chicken that just laid down in the nesting box and died - apparently it is fairly common that they die of a heart attack and if she hadn't seemed unwell it may have been that. As for getting 2 new ones, if you get them at 18 weeks or over I would recommend putting them in together at night to sleep and letting the old one range during the day for a couple of days so the new ones can stay in the run and get used to it. The big one may not like them being there so it is best to supervise but if as you say you are going to be around then you can break up any squabbles. Do you have any spare accommodation in case the big one is too rough with them to start with? I would not leave them all in the run together for at least a week though as there may be some bullying if they are all cooped up together. Hope the new arrivals help with getting over Hugh (great name by the way). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Sorry to hear about Hugh I don't have any more advice that what Alih has already given. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Poor Hugh . Very sad news . I don't have experience of introductions but good luck with it (Alih's advice sounds good!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henhathnofury Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Hens, with their vulnerability, comedy feet and piercing eyes, have the ability to really get to a person. I am so sorry about Hugh. Hybrid life span can be anything from 2-4 years, so it could have simply been her time. Hugs for your wife too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doodles Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 So sorry to hear about Hugh. Sadly, we lost our little Apple yesterday too. She had been unwell for a few days and the vet thought that she would pull through but I came home from work yesterday to find her collapsed and gasping in the run. I couldn't bear to see her suffer any longer and we took her to the vets but she passed away while we were in the waiting room. I'm going to bury her in the garden today underneath a new hollyhock plant that a friend gave to me this week. On a more positive note, when we lost Apple's friend Mango last September and she was left on her own, we introduced 2 new girls (who were about 18 weeks, and Apple was then about 28 weeks). We introduced them at about 11.00am and put the new girls in the run and let Apple play around in the garden all day - we stayed out in the garden too. We found that every now and then Apple would go up to the run as if to say hello and then trot off again. By tea time we thought we'd try letting her back in the run and they all got on really well as if they'd known each other for ages. Maybe we were just lucky as Apple was still fairly young, but we found that a day was long enough for them to get used to each other. Doodles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Sorry to hear about Apple . She sounds like she was a sweet little chicken . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 So sorry to hear about Hugh , at least it was peaceful and she was with her friend. They really find their way into your heart don't they? I hope it all goes well with getting a couple of new girls. There is a good article about introducing new hens here viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25886 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
