Learning Lessons

This weeks blog is a hard one for me to write. We had to put the new chickens down.

We had eleven that we were doctoring to the best of our ability. Every day and night Zoe and I would go in and handle and love and examine and treat what we could. During these examinations we uncovered more and more horrors with these poor girls. I will not be too graphic, but we weren't even sure how ones head was attached given the hole in her neck, others looked like the carcass that you pull out of the soup pot when your broth is finished. On top of that there was an underlying smell of rot in the coop that was not going away.

We made the very sad decision to have Zoe's friend come over and teach us how to humanely put these hens down. Unfortunately, he could only come while I was at work, but Zoe was able to watch and learn. She was happy to report the technique that her friend used caused no struggle or verbal distress.

We have asked friends and coworkers if there is anything we can do to report the person we got these hens from as their living conditions must have been horrific...and the owners still had many more chickens living there. No research we have done has turned up an organization that takes reports of this kind.

The one bright point to this is when we brought the twelve hens home, one of them ran into the brush and would not come out. The day after the eleven were put down, she came out of the brush and joined our flock. It is as if she knew how sick her sisters were and didn't want to be around them. She looks very healthy and our flock has accepted her in with no issues! Although it is often said that chickens are not very bright...our little pea brains have survival smarts!

I am now working to pest proof a second chicken coop in the barn because I am not giving up. But I cannot bring myself to use that hospital ward again...I can not get the smell of rot out even after washing and bleaching. Zoe and I love our chickens and really do want to expand our flock. But we will be smart. Either inspecting the hens and their coop before we bring them home, or getting day old chicks and and hoping we don't get all roosters!!

It has been a hard, sad few weeks. Lessons have been learned, my naivety has been exposed and my trust has been challenged. However, every day I make a conscious effort to live a positive life. So I have cried, and now I pick myself up and move on refusing to stop doing what I am enjoying. There are people out there who are cruel at worst, or thoughtless at best and they may make me slow down for a moment, but they cannot stop Two Girls and a Dream.