Such a shame. I wonder if her odd laying caught up with her. Didn’t you have 4 or 5? Did I miss something?Thank you. It is true worst! Especially when it is so unexpected with no warning. I hate not knowing “why”
I had two hens and six roosters. We kept the hens and sold the Roos. We originally kept one rooster but then the ladies were being stressed out by him so we said goodbye to him too. Now I only have Speedy! I think I am going to look in to getting some more laying hens so she will not be lonely.
Thank you for your story! I tried for over a month to keep a Bachelor Pen but they could not keep the peace or establish a Pecking Order, and they would crow at all hours, all throughout the night even when I kept them in a dark quiet outbuilding. So I had to say goodbye to them. Anyway, my goal is to establish a small egg laying covey of 4 or 5 hens with one roo. I think it will take a lot of time but I am learning a lot! I don’t think I will be able to stop getting emotionally attached or sad when I have to say goodbye or when an animal dies unexpectedly, but that is part of the gig, I guess.Unfortunately this is the fate sometimes happens. My first hatch I had 15 chicks out of 20 eggs. It turned out, that 10 were roos und additional 2 hens were very bully
As my goal were these days to have 5-6 hens, I wanted to get 2 adult hens for the 3 I got left.
And fate again stroke.
The breeder tried to scam me with a roo. I relized it, but this poor thing was so heavily raped by other roos, that I decided in a split second to save him.
Today it turned out, that my Charlie is a gold nugget. Such a great roo, ... crows only little, keeps the flock together, cares for his hens (always let the females eating first, before he eats and he feeds the hens with mealworms, when I offer them) and is, with 2 years, still very fertile. Never had any problem with adding hens into the flock with him as alpha.
Who knows what would have happen, if I had my 5-6 hens from the beginning. I may wouldn't had started breeding myself.
Sometimes fate is difficult to judge in the beginning
I wish you good luck for adding more birds for lonley Speedy ... crossing fingers
Thank you. Being a first timer I am doubting myself a lot, especially when it comes to feed. But, I know with the amount of research I have done that I am following all the advice I can! So hopefully I am a good mommy and the amount of care wouldn’t have been the difference between life and death. Sorry. Still reasoning with myself!!! I appreciate the support.I'm so sorry. It sounds like she was well cared for and happy. But I know that doesn't make the loss easier, especially when unexpected.
Yes she was the last to hatch and I assisted. She was 1/4 of the size of the others. She wasn’t eating at the beginning so I fed her with an eye dropper, a watered down mix of egg yolk and crumbled feed. Then she had constipation so I was giving her an eye dropper of molasses and water one a day for three days. Her oil gland above her vent was swollen since birth and would secret a clear fluid that dried hard and would seal her vent shut so I cleaned her vent and put Vaseline on it daily up until she began laying eggs. She laid two eggs a day. She was very happy and healthy for the last three months. She was broody and laid on her eggs and ate and drank and pooped regularly. I check their feet daily and handle them every day and they are stress free and happy quail.
