[chickenlicken]

Hi everyone

Just back from the vet's and sadly we had to have our favourite little hen put down, we noticed about 6pm she had blood coming from her vent and a discharge and she looked very sad just standing still, we got her to the vet and it was confirmed an egg had broken inside her and her vent was torn to shreds, poor girl,  she belonged to my 10 year old son and he is very upset.

We had 5 hens and lost the first one about 8 weeks, we suspect she had a stroke as she was unable to stand and had lost all use of her wings too, and now this one this evening.

We are wondering when would be the best time to introduce some new girls? We don't want to end up with 1 and then introduce some more and was thinking it may be better to get 2 more now while we have more 'originals'??  We have had the girls for 18 months now so they very well established.

Any advice would be fantastic

Thanks
Tracey

[mumsy]

So sorry to hear your sad news.........hugs from here xxx   I would get some new ones now..........
Our first girlie is 4 this year, I am dreading the day she goes but she is still laying & looking good at the moment.

[compostqueen]

sorry to hear your sad news   

[8doubles]

I would say get a couple of new hens now to cheer your son up. There will be bullying from the older hens but this is unavoidable.
If he is on holiday your son can keep an eye on them , the new hens will probably run to him  for protection when picked on .

[Jeanette]

 I would get them now. If you can it is best to keep them seperate for a couple of weeks but close enough that they can see each other and then introduce them properly later.
I am so sorry that you had to have your favorite girl put to sleep but it was the right thing to do, but it is very sad and i am sorry.

[bantam novice]

Sorry to hear your news  
It is always hard.  Good luck with your new girls.

[NormandyMary]

So very sorry to hear your sad news. I hope that your son gets over the loss fairly quickly. Im sure that the prospect of chosing which hens to have next will help him along.

All the best from over the channel,

Mary.

[chickenlicken]

Thanks to everyone, we are off to choose 2 new girls at the end of the week, just not the same down there without our little hop a long.  Think I will just bite the bullet, separate them in a cage til dusk then pop them in the house at night and hope for the the best 

Will keep you posted and thanks again for your replies

[joyfull]

don't forget the photo's 

[Chicken Pete]

Just read about your loss.  I know how you feel as I recently lost 6 over a period of 1 week and it was very sad.  Happily ( everything X'd) there remainder appear to be recovering 
Good luck with your new arrivals .

[scabs]

Just caught up on this one too.

Good luck with the new girls and I hope it helps your son get over losing his little pal. 

[Kathie]

Sorry to hear about your loss.
We have lost a few over the last 18mnths and know it's heartbreaking.

Hope you and your son have lots of fun times once your new ones settle in

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

Sorry to hear about you loosing one of your girls - just seen this post.  Good luck with your new arrivals and I look forward to seeing photos 

[chickenlicken]

Thanks to you all, we couldn't wait any longer and went to get some new girls this morning!!  We went for 2 for came back with 3!!

We now have 6 Pokemon chooks - Digglett, Snubbell and Piplup are original girls and today we added Squirtle, Turtwig and Peekachu!!!!!   All named by the children - obviously!

Very nervous as put them altogether at about 7pm after they had been separated  all day but able to communicate through the wire mesh, it was pouring with rain but we watched them for half an hour and there were plenty of aggressive pecks by our black rock, have all now roosted together so am hoping for a harmonious start to tomorrow morning!

Should we separate the 'bully' if it gets a bit too rough or let them sort it out and keep out??  The new girls are so much smaller it is horrible to watch them being picked on.

Photos to follow once the rain stops!

[joyfull]

no don't separate, let them sort it out. She is just protecting her place - how would you feel if a family of squatters moved into your house whilst you still lived there? Stay on hand with the purple spray, but after a couple of weeks they should all know their place and sadly there is always somebody at the top and another at the bottom in world of chickens.