Re: I Found One Of My Hens Dead This Afternoon..
Originally Posted by
OldGreyFox
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It's because hens are the way that they are, almost like pets, that makes it so much harder to lose one Arty.
Your post has made me feel sad on this Sunday Morning....
....
A hug is about the best I can do.....
Foxy, Thank You for your caring words. I am ok now, it was just so unexpected.
When l first had hens about 14 years ago, l gave them all a name.
Then one morning at 9.45, I had let them out to roam thinking they’d be ok because at that time, l believed foxes only came out at dusk!
I heard a commotion and saw a fox with a hen in its mouth. I screamed at it and it dropped the hen and ran off. The hen was dead, from shock, l suppose? I was very upset.
I decided to give up keeping hens but keeping hens is an addiction! So, I went out and bought more!
At one time l had 16 hens.
I also decided to see it as ‘hen-keeping’ and not get attached to them. Their purpose was to lay eggs for my family, not to sell.
I didn’t give them names, l just referred to them as brown hen, white hen, silly hen, Legbar, Araucana, depending on their breed or colour.
Even saying, l wouldn’t get close to them, you just do! They are funny. One of them, if l bent over, she’d fly onto my back and l didn’t dare move, in case she fell off and was hurt.
I had to do jobs, l’d never thought l could do. Like holding a hen upside down and putting a gloved hand up into her to examine her, as l thought she was egg bound.
One once, was making loud rasping noises like she was near to death. I had to do something, so I opened her mouth and sprayed a puff of my Ventolin asthma spray into her mouth. I also gave her a quarter of an aspirin and she made a miraculous recovery and lived a good many years after!
So, saying you will try to stay detached is fine but in reality you can’t help but love the funny little things. They have personalities and there’s nothing nicer, even therapeutic than sitting watching them and their funny ways and antics!