We had a casualty today. Bellina died. We noticed her breathing getting a bit labored a couple of weeks ago. That's weird, we thought, thinking the heat had something to do with it. Inexperienced chicken keepers, that we are.
Yesterday when we put them all away for the night we could actually hear Bellina wheezing. This morning I called our local feed store and asked them if they knew of a poultry vet. They gave me the name of a woman nearby and I brought her in.
I really try to be conscious of not anthropomorphising animals. I think it takes away from the, well, animalness of the creature. It's so easy to superimpose our intentions or emotions on our pets. Rather, I think we should just respect and celebrate the catness or the chickeness of them.
That's not to say that I don't become wildly attached to my pets and that I wouldn't do anything in order to avoid any suffering they might experience.
So off to the chicken vet we went. Unfortunately it was too late for Bellina. She had contracted some sort of throat worm that caused her air passages to get irritated and close up.
We are trying to be very responsible chicken owners. We clean out their coop and run every week. Clean out their water daily. Give them organic feed and allow them to free-range. What we should have done was de-worm them. We did start them off on medicated feed as chicks but once they became laying age we switched them over to the organic feed.
I really liked the vet I took Bellina too. She says her first approach is always the most non-invasive, natural way. But there are certain things that just require chemical intervention and worms fall in that category.
I feel a bit as if Bellina was the sacrificial chicken. It took her dying to educate us. It's not like we just jumped into chicken raising blindly but we missed this particular lesson.
So sorry about your poor chic ๐ Live and learn. Who would have thought? Trust me on the pink walls…hubby gave in and now he tells his guy friends he actually likes it ๐ LOVE your 20 truths, I’m going to share them!
Sarah ๐
Oh dear…. so sorry for your loss. ๐
So sorry about Bellina. I’m sure in a few years you’ll be chicken experts!
Have you read Ozma of Oz? It has a talking chicken named Billina who is quite a character. One of my favorite childhood books.
All my best to you upon your loss. I have a terrible time losing pets. You are right in that Bellina taught you a lesson. Bless her heart.
I love your blog and I really love chickens. I worm mine twice a year. In the fall (Sept/Oct) when they stop laying and again in the spring, just before they start up again (Feb/Mar). You shouldn’t eat the eggs when they’ve been wormed for a period of time so for me it’s easiest to do when they aren’t laying. Good luck with your girls!