Broody or bullied?

[BeckyBoo 0]

Dandelion died overnight - she was our Buff Orpington hatched by Speckle. She used to be a lovely chicken but had some sort of episode earlier this year (she's the only one who's been to the vets and she loved all the attention!) but ever since then she's been what I can only describe as disabled. Walked very strangely, carried her head in a bizarre way, I think she had balance and / or sight problems as she often pecked and pecked but missed what she was aiming for, but she seemed happy enough dust bathing although she was always first to bed and last up. Over the last two weeks or so she lost condition, lost weight and then the others started picking on her, I thought this weekend I would have to do the deed (or ask my vet neighbour nicely to do it for me) but I found her gone in the nest box this morning. So I feel a bit guilty that I didn't do it before it was too late, but I'm glad she just went to bed and didn't get up. The children will be sad, we were never quite sure if she was a she or a he as she never laid, had lots of face furniture but never crowed either!

Either way, one less chicken in our hen house today.

 

BeckyBoo

 

At the risk of being a bit mercenary it now leaves me clear to get three more ex-batts later this year which is good news for three hens somewhere in a shed in the South of England!

[tara 0]

Just been out to check on one of my girls as she seemed quiet this afdernoon.Well took my other half in case and just found she had died poor little thing

 

She had a good life plenty of room lots of veg thrown it to eat.Or tho she was not that old may be 2 years or just under.She will be missed and l will always remember all the little things she did.

[Woodcat 0]

hey

 

I am feeling dreadful i just had to take Augusta to the vet because she wasn't well and i suspected that she had fluid in here abdomen and i was right. On the vets advice i didn't put her through antibiotics and xrays to see whether she had an egg stuck because she has been through alot already she had a fox attack nearly a year ago in which she lost all of the feathers from her stomach and bum and she had two foot infections that resulted in her two middle toes developing lumps and turning so she was walking on the side of her toes rather than the bottom.

 

She was one of my orignals of which only Alex is left and shes having a mope round the garden atm

 

I also hoped that she would pull somthing miraculous like she had with the foot infection where she was practicaly on deaths door and she pulled through. I knew it wasn't likely but you still hope.

 

I guess i'm just looking for a bit of reasurance that i made the right call the vet thought it was most likely to be an egg stuck as she has laid every day of her life including the day after she got bitten by the fox and so not really treatable and didn't think there was much chance but...

 

I'm sorry i'm rambling but thanks

Beth

[The Dogmother 578]

Dolly (my araucana/poland cross) died this morning.. she was on the way out yesterday so i put her in a basket in the sun to rest, still with us this morning, but dead just now. Ground was too hard to dig a grave, so I popped her in the freezer until Phil can attack the soil at the weekend and we can bury her properly with flowers and a stone. She was 5 years old and a good layer of blue eggs. I shall miss her daftness.

 

Tears at lunchtime are not to be recommended.

 

Here's a photo of her from the early days

 

 

She was really hardy, never brooded and a stonking layer for a cross-breed.

 

 

Dolly certainly was a character; nutty as a fruit cake, and not a nasty bone in her body, she hated being cuddled though and would kick up the most dreadful racket.

 

Her she is being subjected to a cuddle on a very cold chicken course!

 

[Poached 0]

well i got back from school went down to feed my hens and my stcok of white stars which i just spent £50 on buying have all been eaten by a fox i have just been down to clear the mess up and found legs,bones and even one of their stomachs and heart i cant believe it i have had hens living in their for 2 years with nothing and my eglu was even up on a legde in the cage

 

i'm so upset and shocked and my mum said she would replace them but the supplier has stopped getting them till 2010

 

 

josh

[Guest]

I am so sad today...we had to say goodbye to the last of our original 4 ex battery chickens today.

Fatima. She loved her food and was always first in line for treats, of which she got plenty! That's how I'll remember you, tucking into mashed potato and grapes with gusto! :0)

We had to let you go 1 day short of being with us for 2 years as your poor little body was shutting down. Night night baby, sleep well. We'll never forget you or your sisters xxxxxx

 

 

 

[ChrisP 0]

Charlie was killed by a fox this week, almost a year after Gabbi was

 

I found out tonight when visiting home for the weekend from uni. Dad burried her in the garden

 

I really really really don't like the foxes around here

[Laura007 1]

i have just returned from the vet and gerty is now in the chicken coupe in the sky. she only fell ill a couple of days ago and the symptoms came on very quickly, but was looking so ill and nothing we did for her seemed to work.

 

the vet was really good and didnt bat an eyelid when i blubbed.

 

she is in a much better place now and i feel much better for taking her.

Edited October 20, 2009 by Guest

[Omletina Kyckling 0]

I've just had a real shock. Went out to see my girls and found Charlotta had died in the run, underneath the Cube. She's been sick on and off since August, with sour crop, and it's been a miracle that she lasted this long really. We tried all the usual treatments, but it kept coming back.

 

Even though I've been half expecting it, it's still a shock and I'm so upset. I keep feeling that I didn't do the right thing for her and when she started with it in August and we had the craft weekend, Egluntyne offered to put her at rest for me, and I said no, we'd give her a chance. I wonder if it would have been kinder to let her go then. So I feel sad, and guilty at the same time. At least she's at rest now.

[speckled hen 0]

Hello Everyone

It is with a very heavy heart that I am posting to tell you all that Colin my gorgeous cockerel has died. I don't know what happened, he sang the cockerel chorus with the chook across the road this morning, DH saw him at 8am, I went to let them out at 12noon and found him dead in the run, unfortunately the girls had had a peck as well. I am devastated, I know some of you have followed our adventures, finding out he is a boy, chasing the girls and teaching my daughter how to crow etc. I am pregnant and the hormones are not helping with keeping calm. My lovely neighbour has taken him away, I don't think the poor man has seen anyone so upset over a chook!

 

He was only a year old but had a wonderful life and was very much loved.

 

R.I.P My Colin

[theherd123 0]

Sleep well little Sherbet & Flump.

You were both wonder chooks who lived a happy life in the hen hotel.

[Mattaz 0]

On the 30th May 2009 we got our first ever chickens, They were ISA Browns and w named them Pheobe and Monica because our family is so into the American TV Series, Friends. Theyve both had the best lives eve and we have treated them like gold but on Tuesday 27th October 2009, Monica fell ill. She had little energy, Wasnt laying eggs, Wasnt eating or drinking even when her favourite food was put in front of her, shed just stay in a bush for ages or go in the roosting area of the eglu. She also had a white liquid on her feathers so we thought she was egg bound. Anyway that day we had to go to Devon for a few days holiday whic was a bad mistake. We were going to suggest to my sister who was looking after Monica to Put her in a bowl of warm water but the next day she laid an egg so we were over the moon! We thought panic over, we can enjoy our holiday now, Monica is okay. But on Thursday 29th October 2009 at around 7am, My sister phoned us to say when she went to let out the chickens, she found monica lying with her eyes close, she was gone. Me and mum couldnt stop crying all day and i know dad wanted to cry but he had willpower. Id never felt so upset in my life, i thought she was recovering and we shoul have done so much more to save her. We came home that day and at 3:30 got 2 new ISA Brown hens called Rachel and Monica The Second ( But we call her Monica ). It was late when we got back and Pheobe was about to go to sleep but they had a few minutes to meet, Pheobe went crazy, She didnt want these intruders, she wanted Monica back so afteralot of bullying we decided Rachel and Monica The Second would have to stay the night in a cardboard box inside our breakfast room. We were still very stressed by the whole situation. The next day they weren't the best of friends either but slightly better than before, Pheobe would walk around the garden calling for Monica. We had Monica's funeral that day and buried her where she liked to spend alot of the day, digging for bugs and sheltering from the rain with Pheobe. Yesterday Pheobe seemed much better with them, they had a dust bath together. It is getting more bearable but Pheobe spends alot of her time away from Rachel And Monica 2 but hopefully they will become the best of friends very soon. Rest In Peace Monica, Forever in our hearts, We will miss you. Goodbye xx

 

Please click on the link to see a picture of Monica. Thank you.

 

 

[SarahJo 0]

Farewell Mrs Snowy - died last night after a weekend of TLC

 

She was YS hen and a real character - fiesty and lovable all in one. Have decided to get another Amber Star and 1 more - but no hen could ever replace Mrs Snowy - she was an ace bird and had a good long life

[Rhapsody 0]

I found Slash dead in the nestbox this morning, she's been looking peaky for a couple of days. The Ex-Batts were the most rewarding and sweet hens I've had, and the living embodiment of the phrase No Hard Feelings. Sleep well girls, you've earned your rest.

 

...........

 

Thank you all for your kind messages. I buried her today and it really feels like the end of an era, the Ex-batts were such darlings, so grateful for everything, and no matter how many chooks I have no-one will EVER replace my Edgie

I have my original Hybrids and the 2 Ex-Waitrose hooligans to keep me busy though

[Brown Betty 0]

Poor Edith, I Found her dead on the floor of the hen house yesterday, poor thing, I have no idea why she died, she was an ex-batt that we got in September. I only know that she's had a smashing time since she's been with us pecking up worms, scratching around in the garden and flapping her wings. I'm so pleased that she ended her days a free chook and not a chicken nugget. The others all seem fine but I admit that I'm a little nervous now of losing more of my little lovlies.

[Omletina Kyckling 0]

....just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I've lost another girl.

 

Matilda has never been right, bless her. I've had her for about 18 months and she has never laid an egg in that time. She was a beautiful copper black girl, but never seemed quite right. She became lame about 4 months ago, we took her to the vet, but they said they could find nothing wrong and that she was just the runt of the flock. Since then, she's got around by hopping and managed ok. The past few days she's been very quiet. She's never liked being handled and would run (or hop) away from you at the first chance. Today, she didn't come out of the Cube nesting box, so I lifted her out and tried to get her to eat, she didn't really want to move at all and didn't try to hop away. At bedtime, she'd stayed in the middle of the garden, so I put her in the Eglu for the night.

 

About half an hour ago, I was trying to find the cats to get them in and I heard a lot of commotion from the bottom of the garden....some squawking and banging against plastic. I went down to the Eglu to find that Matilda was on her back in the nestbox of the Eglu, quite different from how I'd found her. I think she must have been in pain and fought to the end.

 

I feel terrible and wonder again, if I could have done something for her, like I did with Charlotta. There were no real symptoms with her though, other than her getting paler and paler in her face and her comb shrinking further.

 

I'm now waiting for Mr Omletina to come home so we can remove her, I just don't feel up to it. I just wish I could stop crying!

 

Sorry to go on, but you lot are the only ones I can talk to about this.

[chickencam 2]

R.I.P Eggy

 

My favourite hen has just slipped away in her sleep in a pet carrier in our summerhouse . I put her in there this morning because she was sleep in the run in front of the drinker and the other 2 were walking on her to get to the water.

 

She had been a bit subdued for a couple of days, at first I just put this down to the colder weather and the fact that her feathers have only just started to grow back after her moult. Yesterday she just stood around and pecked at a couple of meal worms and was drinking, but by this morning she had really gone downhill

 

She looked like she was slipping away so I made her comfortable and put some meal worms and water in with her, but I think she was already nearly unconscious by then. She was still warm just now so she had obviously only recently passed. her end was peaceful, if rather sad for me.

 

She had so much character, always first in line for treats bouncing up and down like Zeberdee. She could swallow grapes and large blackberries whole She used to peck me if I was in the garden and my back was turned, cheeky madam, but I forgave her because she was so funny.

 

She was one of my original Omlet hens, we now only have Mother left, her and Bertha my Light Sussex look lost in the Eglu run and extension now. She must have been approaching 3 years old and laid large almost round eggs.

 

She is the Black hen in the foreground. The White hen next to her is Dippy who we also lost this year.

 

[mad.hen1 0]

I would just like to say a huge thank you to my two ladies Posh and Ginger, for all their wonderful eggs and company.

 

Posh was a Miss Pepperpot, veteran of a fox attack that took her first friend Pecks, and had been with me over two years. She was the most beautiful of hens and laid lovely dark brown eggs. She died in a fox attack and i am so sorry I was away and not there to care for her as usual.

 

Ginger was an ex batt and the funniest hen - she would jump on my back and come up behind me and peck me. and she laid faithfully every day. Ginger, I miss you lots and hope you enjoyed your last year of freedom and retirement. I am sorry Iwas not there for you when you needed me to be.

 

RIP my lovelies.

[Redwing 2]

RIP little Silkie chick only with me for ten days or so

 

I found it dying in its cage so put it to rest

 

Poor little thing

[Lydia 4]

Hatpin died yesterday evening. She was 4 years old and our oldest ex-batt, having enjoyed 2.5 years of freedom.

 

She and Bartel were our first ex-batt chickens and arrived with a selection of feathers on her back, not much anywhere else and the biggest comb you've ever seen, so big she couldn't actually see out of her right eye! Hence the name. The comb receeded a bit so she wore it at a jaunty angle, but the chin straps grew and so did an impressive set of spurs and tail feathers. She never actually crowed but she was a noisy little thing. She laid about 4 thin shelled eggs then a lot of softies, then gave up.

 

She and Bartel were inseparable, even when our flock increased, they remained devoted, always in each other's sight line, always sharing food, treats, worms. When Bartel went in to lay, Hatpin went in too to keep her company. When Bartel died in June, Hatpin went very quiet and definitely felt the loss.

 

In the last couple of weeks she was slowing down and her once impressive comb shrunk to about half a cm (but the jaunty angle remained ). The tell tale signs of peritonitis were in evidence and I knew she was going soon. However, she was still enjoying mooching round the garden and pecking sweetcorn up until Thursday night. On Friday she didn't come out of the nest box all day and finally died around 5.30pm.

 

It's sad but she had a good life with us and, thanks to the good folk of BHWT, a chance that millions of hens just don't get. I'm also proud to say she was actually a freeranger for longer than she was a battery hen.

 

RIP my little bruiser.

[Griffin 0]

Little Bernard my blue Silkie boy from the 4th of July hatch died yesterday after a short illness. I'll miss his happiness and the cute way he talked to himself all the time. And today I found out that Freya, my noisy Columbine that went to live with a friend, was foxed on Friday night

[NatalieC 0]

Lost my lovely Laverne on Saturday night, very peacefully - she'd retired from laying last year and was just worn out I think. She was my first chicken and a real naughty character - the run seems very empty without her. Love you Verny - will miss youxx

[Chick-a-doodle-doo 0]

My poor little chick, it has been too much for her. I just hope she enjoyed her week of freedom.

 

Thanks for your help on here.

 

RIP Camilla.

[Donna_0 0]

Hi All,

 

A sad day yesterday, one of my newbie baby pekins (baby-lavender) passed away yesterday.

We got her and her sister about four weeks ago, they were both quite young. As they were young I felt like I had taken great care of them, bringing them in at night and keeping them seperate from Fleur and Pickle (the big girls).

 

Millie, baby's sister has grown so much but baby never seemed to which I did think was quite odd. Recently I thought she was bit clumsy as she would fall over on the grass, and just wait for you to put her on her feet again.

 

Yesterday I took their bed outside, and waited for baby to run out like she normally did but it was all quiet. I took the lid off and she was lying in the back. My heart sank :0(. She kept coming around..I dashed her to the vets but she passed away in the car. I am so sad as she was my favourite, and had heaps of character, and I am sad that I couldn't help her.

 

After I explained all of this to the vet she said it is possible that baby had a neurological problem/ virus. I must wait now and watch millie..she seems full of beans so hopefully it won't be anything catching.

 

Sleep tite my lovely baby, I am sorry I couldn't help you but at least I was there with you xxx

[lougriff 0]

Had the most awful day yesterday, popped home to let the girls have some free ranging time before dark and found Lilly our beautiful Miss Pepperpot dead in the run. It was a total shock, she had shown no signs of illness, eating and drinking well and had always been the character of the bunch. Anyway called DH, she was his favourite, and he came to sort it all out. It seems she had a prolapse, just feel so sad about it all, that I wasn't here when she was in trouble, although not sure what I could have done. Now have to tell our daughter that one of her girls has died. Who would have thought these little bundles of feathers would have stolen our hearts so completly

 

 

Lilly 1st 28/05/09 RIP 02/12/2009

Tilly 1st 28/05/09

Milly 1st 30/05/09