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[BocBoc]

Well last night I made the decision to put Margot to sleep. She's not been right for a while and had a course of antibiotics a couple of weeks ago to treat sour crop, canker and a lesion in her throat. She didn't respond very well if at all and her wattle/comb turned from bright red to dusky pink over the weekend and she looked really grey in the face. It was a horrible few minutes at the vets and when I got home I wished I'd chosen to give her a stronger dose of antibiotics instead. Now I feel really rubbish and the worst chicken mum ever.

 

To top it off the vet said that Margot was really skinny and had no meat on her whatsoever. I know she was poorly but she was our largest chicken. Now I feel like I'm not looking after our other girls well enough and doubting our future chicken keeping

 

RIP Margot - you were a beautiful girl xx

[Auntie FiFi]

O dear. Don't feel guilty - I lost a chicken a couple of weeks ago - I noticed last winter that she didn't weigh very much but didn't think much of it as she appeared healthy, eating and drinking normally. Then during the summer she had days when she seemed a bit under the weather but I blamed soft shelled eggs. However, a few weeks ago she went down hill quite quickly and I took her to the vet. Because she was so thin he thought that she had some underlying health problem. We tried treating her with antibiotics etc but she faded so quickly and I had to take her back to the vet a couple of days later as she was so weak and she had to be put to sleep. It may be that little Margot had an underlying health problem in addition to the problems you know about, which was why she was so underweight. I'm sure your other girls are healthy and well - don't blame yourself and please don't give up on chicken keeping. We can only do what we think is right at the time. x

[Mrs Webmuppet]

Please don't worry about what the vet said. Our vet has said the same about two of our chickens ( one of them was a tiny Pekin bantam and had always been small and light). You are a good chicken Mum, you took her to the vets and nursed her as best you can and in the end made the right decision.

 

Our vet even admitted that the treatment of chickens was a tricky matter, as until fairly recently ( when having pet chooks became the 'in' thing) seeing a chicken at the vets was unheard of.

[Griffin]

Very sorry to hear about Margot. If she was a hybrid though she wouldn't ever carry much weight anyway, they're not designed to, so don't feel bad about the comments made by your vet. You've done nothing wrong, you did what was best for Margot. Don't ever doubt that.

[daxigirl]

Poor you feeling so awful. Big hug, Margot's probably chasing mealworms in the sky.

 

When I took Sunday a few weeks back she was classed as an "exotic consultation" she had 2 vets look at her and I suspect they thought she'd pop it. She was on anitbiotic tablets as she was too thin to have an injection. They were rather taken aback when they phoned a few days later and I said she was thriving.

 

I've since spoken to an all knowing chicken breeding man near me about her skinnyness and he says that she probably had Coccidiosis from before I got her and although it's gone now it would have damaged her gut and she probably doesn't absorb the nutrients from her feed as she should. He said to always make sure she's got food as she'll always be hungry and on the thin side. Since the antibiotics she has grown as she's now bigger than her housemates and she's getting better feathers, even a tail to shake like the others.

 

Probably if I'd left it another day I'd have lost her too (Cupcake died the week before.)

[jill the potter]

As the others have said - don't feel that it was your fault. If you were a bad chicken owner would you have bothered to take her to the vets?!?!? You did your best, I just think chickens live quite fragile lives.

[madchickenlady]

You did your best, honestly. Vets are much more used to seeing overweight furry creatures than hens, so what he percieved as being too thin was probably a perfectly reasonable weight for a hen. Chooks always look heavier than they are, it's all the feathers I am sorry that you lost Margot, but you are a good keeper because you made a hard decision x

[sparkysmum]

So sorry to hear your sad news. Alli xx

[beach chick]

so sorry too, and really what all the others said - unless your vet really 'knows' chooks, who can tell?

[Powerlady]

So sorry...... You are a GOOD chicken Mum...don't let anyone tell you any different!