sad day for chickens

Update: Buffy seems to be doing okay. She’s eating and drinking and laid an egg!  Her wound looks like it’s more of a surface wound, but it’s pretty big.  She’ll be staying inside until we think she’s safe from infection – she thinks she’s ready to get out of her cage already!  Thanks for the thoughts, everyone!

I came home today to find a chicken massacre in the backyard.  Well, maybe not a massacre… but definitely a lot of feathers.  Bunny didn’t make it.  I though Buffy was a goner, too, but by the time Travis came home she was up and walking.  There’s a huge wound on her upper back, but I’m not really sure what to do about it.  I put her in a large dog crate with food and water and tried dripping some water into her beak with a straw.  I have some sort of spray I used on Lexi when she had a hot spot and kind of sprayed it on her back.  I guess all we can do now it wait.  Because, honestly, I can’t justify a vet visit for a chicken.

I think the gate latch didn’t close all the way.  Whether the wind opened the gate or what, I don’t know.  I’m sad that we lost our pretty chicken, but I feel even worse that I let the chickens down.  I was supposed to make sure they had a safe home and make sure the dogs wouldn’t hurt them and I failed.  I can’t even be mad at the dogs because they were just doing what their little doggy instincts told them to do.  I’m upset, but not mad.

Travis was very sweet and wrapped Bunny up in a paper bag and buried her inside the chicken pen.  We threw in some scratch and said our goodbyes and then he covered it all up.  He also said I could get new chicks if I’d like.  I’m hoping Buffy will pull through, but I just don’t know.

We’ll most likely do some redesign on the chicken pen to make it more secure and maybe build in some sort of secondary containment.  But we’re not giving up.  We enjoy our chickens and I’d like to continue with the bawking.  And the eggs were damn tasty, too!