Hen with a dirty butt

[Wildsky]

I totally understand, although I couldn't do it yet, I had to ask my hubby to cull a chicken, and he cried.

She had been attacked by a dog and her whole back was ripped open, there was no way we could have saved her. My hubby was very upset by the whole thing.

We also took the axe to a rooster, we didn't want to do it, but he was becoming more and more mean, and we have two small children - it was the rooster or the kids, and the rooster had to go.

We originally got 8 chickens, 3 years ago, two were attacked by that dog, the one we had to cull, the other one lived in the house for a month being nursed back to health. One of our 8 just died on the roost, we found her on the floor in the morning, stiff as a board. Another one was taken off by a dog a few weeks ago - my son's chicken, Peep.

We have 5 of the original 8 left: (i purchased 2 of each breed)

Flopsy - leghorn - her partner died on the roost, Mopsy
Big Red, her real name is Scarlett a RIR -her partner was the one we had to cull, Cali
Sandra(EE) - her partner was Peep.
Daisy (BO)
Maggie (BO) (dog attack victim that spent a month in the house, she has an odd wing now)

 

[Farmfresh]

You know ... as hard as it is to do this stuff it makes us better more complete people. When you gently hold an injured animal and put it out of its misery your compassion level just grows by leaps and bounds. Some people miss those hard lessons.

 

[ORChick]

My grandfather rescued an English Bulldog from a bad life - the dog was kept on a chain, and teased by all the neighbourhood children and dogs, who all knew just how long that chain was. I don't know if Grandfather stole it, or bought it, or threatened the owner, or exactly how he obtained the dog. When I was a little girl, and my brother somewhat older, and the dog quite a bit older, in dog years, and somewhat senile, he bit my brother - 50 some years later my brother still has the scar. Grandfather had the dog put down, and wrote later that he would have felt better about it if he had only had the courage to do it himself. Having someone else take that responsibility made him feel that he had somehow failed the dog. My Grandfather was a very gentle man; he taught me that all life is valuable, including the spiders that I still capture and set outside, rather than squishing them. But a slow and painful death is not life, and giving a quick, clean death is sometimes merciful.

 

[Farmfresh]

No words just and