I can't help but be sad when I lose a chicken...

R.I.P Pecker...you were such a great chicken! Pecker was a 2 1/2 year old Ameraucana who layed the prettiest blue eggs, every day, on time, no complaints. No drama with Pecker, she was all about business. Hard not to be sad, even though they are livestock. I still get attached...I'm just a big softy (shhhhh, don't tell anyone!)

Got a call from the husband at work on Tuesday evening...he said he'd just found her keeled over in the coop. No warning. We still can't figure out what happened unless the heat just got to her. Even though she seemed perfectly fine the night before. What a bummer. So, Phyllis is the last of the original gang of girls. Who'd have thunk she would hang on the longest.

It's a good idea to add electrolytes to your chicken's water during the summer months. Helps with heat stress. If you have a chicken that seems week or disorented in the heat, you can hose them down or even hold them in a bucket of cool water for a few minutes. I actually did this with Phyllis yesterday. Make sure they have access to shade in the afternoon. I like to give my girls chilled watermelon in the summer. They LOVE it and it cools them off.

Anyhoo...I'll miss her and and blue eggs. Sniff, sniff.

Comments

[Leslie Finical Halleck]

I just lost ANOTHER one! Poor PJ...she was my Cuckoo Maran. I was really looking forward to those dark chocolate brown eggs...she passed before she ever layed one. It was most likely heat stress...it has been brutal here this summer...

[Kathy Durham]

We are grieving together. Last Monday while checking the nests for eggs, I found Rocky, my 3 yr old Barred Rock, keeled over on the nest. sniff! She was the last of my original hens (I lost the other 2 to a raccoon). Checked for COD and couldn't find anything wrong. They are loveable livestock.

[Laura Mathews]

I completely understand how you feel! I treat my chickens like pets and once, I lost three in a day and was completely devastated. RIP - Pecker.