Sweetums was one of the four older hens we have. We were given these girls when they were about 4 months old from J's cousin, who owns a farm nearby, and was looking to reduce her flock size. They are all now 4 years old. They lay intermittently - we get an egg (maybe two) a day between the four of them.
All four girls were wonderful little mutt chickens - we think Sweetums was a mix of an Easter Egger and a Partridge Rock. She had cute fluff face (hence the name Sweetums for the monster Muppet), was the smallest of the four, and had the coloring of a Partridge Rock.
We knew something was wrong with our lovely little Sweetums about a month ago. She wasn't pooping right, was shivering (it was during one of the last really cold-snowy spells we had this winter), pale comb, and we hadn't seen her eat for a while. We brought her inside, bathed her to get the poop off, (hand fed) her oatmeal, and treated her with epsom salt and cider vinegar (at different times - for different symptoms).
Our diagnosis at the time was that she might be internal laying. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell what exactly a hen is sick with. All external symptoms (lethargy, diarrhea, not eating, etc.) apply across the board to almost all chicken illnesses.
We were going to put her down at that time, because she still wasn't eating well and wasn't her normal perky self. We had a break in the weather, though, and decided to give her one last day with her sisters outside. She instantly perked up, started scratching around for bugs and worms, and started eating and drinking again - not with her normal appetite, but enough to give us some hope. We decided that as long as she was eating, we would let her be outside with her girls.
In the back of my mind I knew that we were just buying time. Sweetums was never 100%, eating - but not well, and not quite as active or talkative as she usually was.
Last night I got home from work and decided to let all the girls out to free-range for an hour or so before it got dark. Sweetums was laying on her side in the run. I picked her up and she felt like skin and bones. We put her in the grass and she walked and tried to eat a little, but you could tell she wasn't right. Her wings were droopy, and she was all puffed up. She didn't have the strength to walk up the ramp at dusk and we knew it was time.
We decided to euthanize her. Neither J nor I have ever had to cull a chicken and we were both worried that our lack of experience would do more harm than good for our dear little Sweetums.
It is heartbreaking to lose something that you have cared for, who has given you joy and smiles (and eggs!). Every decision we made was what we thought would be in her best interest, but you can't help to second guess yourself. I hope that we made Sweetums more comfortable and happy in her final days with us.
We'll miss you...
No comments:
Post a Comment