Our lovely 'Librarian', so named because she was very intelligent and inquisitive (probably should have called her the Professor), has finally gone to the great hen house in the sky. I think I have related how she had a prolapse last August and never laid an egg since but seemed generally happy enough most of the time. She ate well, ran down the drive for food, scratched about and generally did what chickens do. Then when the cold weather came she seemed to go downhill and started sleeping in the nest box (mind you it was the warmest place to be). She still seemed OK apart from this and the fact that she couldn't jump like she used to. Then two days ago she stopped comming out of the nest box and was limp and sad looking (if you know what I mean), she was still eating and drinking but just stood around in the hen house looking really fed up. I guess we should have done the decent thing then but couldn't bring ourselves to do it. Yesterday she was no better and wasn't really eating at all; so after dark (so as not to distress her too much and not to distress the other one who was asleep on her perch), we gently took her out of the hen house, gave her a cuddle and put her to sleep (I won't go into details).
We are both sad as she was a lovely hen, but at least now she is not suffering anymore. The other hen does seem a bit distracted today but she has been running about on her own for a while (the other one kept herself to herself) and sleeping on the perch on her own for about a month. We still don't feel the run we have is terribly fox proof and the bad fox time is comming up in the spring when they have cubs, so we have to decide whether to get more hens or wait until we find our own place and can put something permenant in (we don't really want to put a permenant run in here when we don't know how long we will be here). If we don't get more we will have to think what to do with the remaining hen (Houdini as she can escape from anywhere if she wants), as having one hen on her own is probably not a good idea, although aparently my Grandmother had one hen for years as a pet. It must be said, that the remaining hen is fit and healthy and still lays lovely eggs.
Sad times, but in a sense not, we have done the right thing and it was over very quickly, she would have felt no pain or anxiety, so the only creatures really suffering are us as we miss her.
We are both sad as she was a lovely hen, but at least now she is not suffering anymore. The other hen does seem a bit distracted today but she has been running about on her own for a while (the other one kept herself to herself) and sleeping on the perch on her own for about a month. We still don't feel the run we have is terribly fox proof and the bad fox time is comming up in the spring when they have cubs, so we have to decide whether to get more hens or wait until we find our own place and can put something permenant in (we don't really want to put a permenant run in here when we don't know how long we will be here). If we don't get more we will have to think what to do with the remaining hen (Houdini as she can escape from anywhere if she wants), as having one hen on her own is probably not a good idea, although aparently my Grandmother had one hen for years as a pet. It must be said, that the remaining hen is fit and healthy and still lays lovely eggs.
Sad times, but in a sense not, we have done the right thing and it was over very quickly, she would have felt no pain or anxiety, so the only creatures really suffering are us as we miss her.
1 comment:
My Mrs.Hen (aka Angel Wings) was over twelve when she finally went to meet her maker. She outlived all her offspring and befriended various pheasants in her final years. Arthritis eventually set in and we did the decent thing. One of her girls was called Celeste and used to sit on my lap! Hope you find a happy replacement!
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