A Heavy Heart

The sun is shining and my heart is heavy.  My big white hen died in my arms this morning.  I am so glad that she is not suffering anymore but I am sad for her passing.  I only have two hens now.  Polo was the hen that held the group together.  I don't know that I will ever keep hens again once the other two have gone.  I had an idyllic image of hens roaming free around the garden.  I had to scrap that idea once the fox population grew in the area.  I see foxes every day now whereas when I was a child I think I only ever saw one fox.

I am unable to find a vet who is knowledgeable or who even cares about chickens.  Many just see them as livestock.  Now I know there will be vets who do care but unfortunately there aren't any around these parts. In addition to this, chickens are susceptible to a wide range of health problems.  They need to be wormed every month, they can get red mites and become anaemic, if they eat corn they need to eat grit to break it down, they need oyster shell or calcium supplements to help them produce hard shells etc, etc.

If I haven't put you off of keeping chickens, I would urge you to research as much as you can about them before taking them on.  They are not an easy option and they do require lots of attention just like any other pet.   I didn't realise, until Polo got ill, that the large Sussex type birds are more likely to suffer from a prolapse due to producing extra large eggs.  If I had been equipped with this knowledge beforehand I wouldn't have chosen this type of bird as a layer.  Make sure you can find a vet that specialises in chickens too so that you can get expert help when needed and not driven into a panic like state as I have been over the past week.