How to RESPONSIBLY rehome my flock?

[hellotrixie]

Hi chicken keepers. Hopefully I am posting this in the right place.

TLDR; I am not good at chicken keeping and I want to RESPONSIBLY rehome my chickens. Please give me advice.

I had a small flock of 4 chickens about 2 years old. At Christmas, I lost one to a hawk. I stopped letting them free range and locked them up. We added on to our secure run to give them more space. A couple weeks ago, I found my EE dead in the coop, in a corner where she liked to lay eggs. She had laying issues, but was otherwise healthy. I saw her the eating and drinking the night before, and had recently picked her up and examined her and she seemed fine. Yesterday, my golden comet woke up with a full, squishy water balloon crop and brown stuff coming out of her beak. I tried to give her first aid as best I could, and was taking her to the vet today, but she passed away yesterday afternoon. So I have just one girl left from the original 4.

I also got 5 chicks this spring, and they are about 15 weeks. They were quarantined from the big girls for 12 weeks, and then they moved in a "condo" in the big coop/run and have been hanging out with the big girls during the day and sleeping in the "condo" at night. We are pretty sure one is a rooster.

I want to rehome all of them. I thought I was doing a good job caring for them, but I am clearly not since I have lost so many so close together. I check the flock multiple times a day, keep feeders/waterers clean and full, and keep the coop/run clean. I pick them up and give them a good check over as often as possible (more often with the littles). I feel terrible about the losses. I cannot take the guilt, stress and sadness of continually losing birds. Every time I go out to the coop I'm afraid of finding more dead or sick birds.

Please give me some advice on RESPONSIBLE rehoming. Should I rehome them all together? I'm not sure my 1 original bird has integrated with the littles yet. I know rehoming them will be stressful. Should I maybe find the littles a home and then just keep my one original girl and let her live out her life here?

I should also note that I am having a necropsy done on the bird that passed away yesterday to make sure there is nothing infectious going on. So rehoming them is based on the assumption that they are not sick. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Heffalump]

I would give it a few weeks following the death of your hen yesterday and then see how you feel.

I lost a chick that I thought was hatching fine 6 weeks ago and swore I'd never do it again because I felt so guilty and upset. But here we are today and my broody hen is hatching out a small clutch of 3.

Give yourself some space and time to get over things. We've all lost birds in the past. Some birds get sick and die before you expect them too, just like people. If you're meeting all their needs and checking them over regularly there isn't much more anyone can do.

I'm in the UK so this might not be an option for you, but do you have a hen rescue near you? Otherwise I would imagine word of mouth would be a good idea. At least you would know the person they were going to and have an idea of how they great their animals.

I'm not sure if you should rehome them together or not but I wouldn't keep one lone hen. .

Sorry for your losses.

 

[hellotrixie]

Thanks Heffalump. If it were just the one hen I would probably give it some more time. But I think losing three since Christmas is excessive. If it is my fault (I feel like I'm just not good with chickens), I want them to have a home where someone will do better. If losing that many that fast is "normal" or just out of my control, then I guess I still feel chicken keeping isn't for me.

There are chicken rescues here, but I don't want to add to their burden. The chickens are my responsibility and I want them to be well cared for. I will provide the absolute best care I can until a safe new home with responsible owner(s) can be found.

I don't want my one original hen to be all alone...I guess I can wait a while longer, maybe until she integrates more with the littles and then find someone local who wants the entire flock. I just want them to all be healthy and happy chickens. I am trying so hard to do my best for them

Thanks again for your support.

 

[AngieDawn]

Thanks Heffalump. If it were just the one hen I would probably give it some more time. But I think losing three since Christmas is excessive. If it is my fault (I feel like I'm just not good with chickens), I want them to have a home where someone will do better. If losing that many that fast is "normal" or just out of my control, then I guess I still feel chicken keeping isn't for me.

There are chicken rescues here, but I don't want to add to their burden. The chickens are my responsibility and I want them to be well cared for. I will provide the absolute best care I can until a safe new home with responsible owner(s) can be found.

I don't want my one original hen to be all alone...I guess I can wait a while longer, maybe until she integrates more with the littles and then find someone local who wants the entire flock. I just want them to all be healthy and happy chickens. I am trying so hard to do my best for them

Thanks again for your support.

Usually they don’t like to be alone

I think you should wait a week and think about it.
I wish I lived closer because I would take them!

 

[hellotrixie]

Usually they don’t like to be alone

I know, that's partly why I am so worried...because she hasn't fully accepted the littles yet.

My littles roosted in the big coop for the first time last night. I'm assuming my big hen allowed them in because she slept alone the night before. She's letting them hang out with her in the run today too.

I'm waiting to do anything at all until I feel they have become one flock. I also need to wait for the necropsy results of the bird I just lost. Then I'll see what to do about a new home.

 

[aart]

I'm waiting to do anything at all until I feel they have become one flock.

They may not really do that until the youngers are laying....
....might be different with a single older birds tho.

 

[hellotrixie]

They may not really do that until the youngers are laying....
....might be different with a single older birds tho.

I feel awful for her. I gave her a health check today and she is very feisty, but she has some broken feathers on her belly so I am a little worried about her since her two flock mates died within 2 weeks of each other. She doesn't have any symptoms though, and neither do my littles.

I cannot afford to take them all to the vet. That is part of the reason I have decided to rehome them. Still waiting for the necropsy results from the girl I just lost...hopefully that tells me something helpful.

 

[hellotrixie]

I received the results of the necropsy on my poor girl Debbie who died this week. She had cancer that had spread throughout her body. The report says:

"The cause of death of the bird was adenocarcinoma that spread in the coelomic (abdominal) cavity. Because of absence of carcinomatous lesion in the ovary, the origin of the adenocarcinoma is likely the pancreas."

The report also stated that she had no signs of internal or external parasites, no injuries, no lesions, or other physical abnormalities. She had an egg developing in her shell pouch. The report noted she was in excellent body condition, and was even normal weight despite her cancer. Her crop was full of fluid because her internal systems were shutting down due to her pancreas not functioning, because the entire organ was full of tumor.

This means that the death of this chicken is unrelated to the death of my other hen Chocobo a couple of weeks ago. There's no way to know for sure now since I did not necropsy her, but Choco likely died from some reproductive disease/problem, since she had laying issues (soft eggs, shell-less eggs, fairy eggs). I checked her regularly to make sure she was not egg bound (including right before she passed) because I often found her straining in the nest, but of course her problem could have been internal. She appeared in good health until the day she passed.

The point of all of this, is that I have been beating myself up and thinking I needed to find a better home for my flock where they would get better care. But I guess Heffalump is right...

If you're meeting all their needs and checking them over regularly there isn't much more anyone can do.

I still might rehome the chickens. But at least I don't feel quite as awful as I did before. Still sad, but not as guilty and like I'm a horrible chicken keeper. Maybe this will help someone else with their feelings about chicken losses too.

 

[Eggstatic ChickyDoo]

I'm sorry for your losses . I think giving yourself time is the right move.
Hang in there and remember sometimes these things just happen, not necessarily from any fault of yours.

 

[Heffalump]

I received the results of the necropsy on my poor girl Debbie who died this week. She had cancer that had spread throughout her body. The report says:

"The cause of death of the bird was adenocarcinoma that spread in the coelomic (abdominal) cavity. Because of absence of carcinomatous lesion in the ovary, the origin of the adenocarcinoma is likely the pancreas."

The report also stated that she had no signs of internal or external parasites, no injuries, no lesions, or other physical abnormalities. She had an egg developing in her shell pouch. The report noted she was in excellent body condition, and was even normal weight despite her cancer. Her crop was full of fluid because her internal systems were shutting down due to her pancreas not functioning, because the entire organ was full of tumor.

This means that the death of this chicken is unrelated to the death of my other hen Chocobo a couple of weeks ago. There's no way to know for sure now since I did not necropsy her, but Choco likely died from some reproductive disease/problem, since she had laying issues (soft eggs, shell-less eggs, fairy eggs). I checked her regularly to make sure she was not egg bound (including right before she passed) because I often found her straining in the nest, but of course her problem could have been internal. She appeared in good health until the day she passed.

The point of all of this, is that I have been beating myself up and thinking I needed to find a better home for my flock where they would get better care. But I guess Heffalump is right...



I still might rehome the chickens. But at least I don't feel quite as awful as I did before. Still sad, but not as guilty and like I'm a horrible chicken keeper. Maybe this will help someone else with their feelings about chicken losses too.

I'm glad you got some closure on Debbie. It sounds like you're doing a great job looking after your girls.