We lost our second hen. My sick hen went off somewhere to die. Saturday afternoon we let her out in the yard (like we have done every afternoon). Usually she had been staying close to the house. When we went out to check on her a couple hours later she was missing. We didn't think much of it, I figured she wandered off with the rest of the girls and would be back at sundown like always. Except she didn't come back.
We scowered the yard, neighbors yard and wooded area by our house. No signs of her. It's like she just disappeared. I find it hard to believe anything would have eaten her in the middle of the day. I have a feeling she crawled off somewhere and hid. It has been almost 4 days now since we last saw her.
The remaining 7 birds are doing well. Tuesday they proved it to me providing us with 7 eggs! I am hopeful now that everyone else is healthy and our bad streak is over.
It's sad that you lost the second one, but I hope you are right about the other 7 being healthy and thriving!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about your loss. I hope they all stay healthy.
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry that you lost a second. Hopefully you and the hens will have a long healthy spell.
ReplyDeleteI was actually told by my vet that animals will try to hide when they are not feeling well or are going to pass away. We had a cat that would get upper respitory infections all the time. I always knew he was sick when he would go lay under the bed. I could barely pull him out to feed him or anything bc he would go further under the bed. My dog does the same thing when he has an upset tummy.
Oh, no, I am so sorry. ((Hugs)) Sometimes it's kind of better not to find them, I think.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry.......
ReplyDeleteIt is hard when an animal dies-we see it far more frequently than we'd like with poultry. There are just so many things, little things, that can go wrong. I would not discount something snatching her in the middle of the day, though. We were sitting on the back porch late one morning, near lunch time, and a fox came right out in the middle of the yard and grabbed a hen. He never would venture far off, either. I shooed everyone in and he just waited. Dogs are always a thought, too. They won't necessarily kill them to eat them, but enjoy playing with them, and can accidentally injure them to the point of dying, or scare them to death. There are just as many predators in town as we deal with out of town.
ReplyDeleteHope the rest of the gals stay safe and healthy!
Abby
Thanks Abby. So far the rest seem to be doing great.
ReplyDelete