jennydavies Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 Yesterday morning (why do bad things always happen on Sundays ?) I let the girls out of the hen-house and unusually Nugget came out last. Straight away I could see something was wrong with her. Her bottom was very mucky and she had a prolapsed vent. We took her indoors and cleaned her up and I very gently (with the aid of KY jelly) tried to re-insert the prolapse, but it wouldn't stay in. During the day we kept an eye on her and tried to keep her clean and disinfected. This morning she didn't look good at all, the flesh of the prolapse had turned black and her eyes looked funny and different. We called a friend of ours who is a retired farmer from England and lives locally to us, he came straight round, took one look at Nugget and shook his head. He said the flesh that had gone black was dead and if we returned her to the run there was a good chance she would get a flystrike and get eaten alive (it is very hot over here now), he also didn't like the way her eyes were and advised us to have her despatched. He did this for us there and then very quickly and we double-bagged her and put her in the dustbin (I didn't want the risk of our Greyhounds digging her up) We just feel such failures, we have a lovely setup, we feed them properly, they are safe from predators, but in the past three weeks we have had to rehome two, bought two more and lost another one to illness are we that bad as chicken parents we only have one original chicken left, I feel like I am changing my signature daily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Very sorry to hear it. Don't beat yourself up. This is a fairly common occurrence, and you did the right thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 So sorry to hear that . As Egluntyne says, it's not your fault. There's nothing you can do to predict/prevent that happening . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidsin Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 These things happen - and they often seem to come in waves, if it's not one thing, it's something else. Chickens don't have long life spans and they're not particularly hardy. Don't beat yourself up about it. It's horrible losing a pet, but that's life sometimes. (((hugs))) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffodill Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 I have found chicken keeping is not a walk in the park as I first thought. You are just going through a bad patch and I am sure things will settle down soon-but you have done nothing wrong just been a bit unlucky stick with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlettohara Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Sorry about Nugget and I felt the same Daffodil - I thought you got a chicken and it laid an egg and have learnt it's not that easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Oh I'm sorry Jenny, that's just really bad luck. It could (and does!) happen to any of us, although it doesn't help much to hear that when you're right at the bottom of a bad luck trough. {{HUGS}}. Hopefully things will settle down now. Just rest assured, you are a responsible and caring chook keeper and you did the best thing for her - a totally unselfish act of compassion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 I'd just like to reinforce what the others have said - its bad luck, not bad management and these things do sometimes come in waves, making you feel that you must be doing something wrong. But its just the luck of the draw. So, do persevere - I can promise the other side is fabulous But RIP Nugget Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennydavies Posted June 1, 2010 Author Share Posted June 1, 2010 Thank you everyone for your reassurance. I just could not bear the thought of her being eaten by maggots, I don't even know if the prolapse she had was painful, she was very quiet and calm when we were trying to help her and keep her clean. I missed seeing her being first out of the hen-house this morning and the dustbin men came and it felt very final she was our first egg-layer and we were sooo excited when that happened, we don't really have favourites but she was way up there We will miss her dearly no-one said it would be easy, but sometimes it's just so hard. Thanks everyone, xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Sorry to hear about Nugget. Sometimes the bravest decision you can make is to decide it's time to let go. Sounds like you did the right thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken bark Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Sorry you have had to say goodbye to Nugget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathybc Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 sorry to hear about Nugget and your run of bad fortune, I am sure things will pick up soon x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewitall Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 So sorry to hear about poor Nugget. Like Daffodil and Scarlettohara I am finding chicken keeping, as a newbie, quite exhausting at the moment trying to save my "313" from another bout of Mycoplasma. But there are wonderful moments to be had in between and they are worth their weight in vet's bills and stolen tears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
