Hatty, one of our oldest chickens has been quite sick recently, she has been sleeping a lot and generally not being very feisty.
She has been coming out of the run, finding a nice spot in the sun, and then sleeping pretty much all day, and when it's time to get back in the run, instead of running in she's just been walking slowly in. We've been keeping an eye on her, but Saturday when I went round she was hardly moving at all, choosing to sit in a corner asleep.
I put her in a separate box with plenty of clean straw, and a cup of water in one corner, close to her so she wouldn't have to move to drink, and some food next to that for the same reason.
When I went to check on her Sunday morning I wasn't too hopeful, but she seemed ok, she was perched on the edge of her box, with her eyes fully open, and I was quite pleased that she had perked up! I went to the veggy patch to sort a few things out, and I heard Rhydian making a fuss, so I walked back to the chickens, only to find Hatty flapping about with her head in a corner of the coop, things didn't look good and I had to make a very difficult decision.
It was a very quick ending for Hatty, who was our favourite hen - she was big and fat with all her feathers, and had a great temperament. It was also the first chicken I have ever had to put down in this way, so it effected me quite a lot - it wasn't a nice thing to experience, but I'm glad I did it, as I couldn't see her in pain like that.
So here's to you Hatty, may you rest in piece.
Hatty is the buff hybrid on the far right.
Hatty is the buff hybrid on the far right.
7 comments:
awwwwwwwww what a lovely tribute to Hatty... and a sad experience.
Well done to you for being able to stop her suffering. It must have been incredibly difficult. xxxxx
awww, I've gone all tearful.
you did a tough thing that had to be done
hope rhydian and the girls don't miss her too much.
RIP Hatty
Thats really sad {hugs}
Thanks for stopping in my blog. I'll be back to read more when I have a little bit. We have 93 acres. ~Kim
Thanks ladies for your sympathy - it was a difficult thing to do since Hatty was our fave.
Thanks for dropping in Kim, and nice to 'meet' you.
:D
That is a very sad day. I agree with Jo, that must have been very difficult.
Thanks Don...
..I've done the same to other things a few times when they were suffering, but this experience definately wasn't nice.
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