My Chicken Story: Lessons Learned

Sometimes the world is fast paced and our priorities are somewhat out of whack. These stories are about the little things that we learn from our birds if we take the time to listen. Not all of them have happy endings, but if you have chickens you’ll come to learn that keeping birds is a bit of a rollercoaster.

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Molly Hanna

I had a really hard couple of days. We had a massive rain storm. I wasn’t prepared and one of my chicks almost drowned. When I found her she was on her side completely covered in mud. She’d been washed between two fences and could not move. It looked like she was in the process of dying. I could not reach her at all. My brother told me to leave her as there was nothing I could do to save her. It was the middle of a lightning storm and he wanted me inside. I got the rest of the chicks moved to safety and I went back for this one. I knew it might be pointless but I couldn’t handle the thought of her dying alone in the rain and mud. I begged her to get up and come to me. She managed to get up and staggered a couple feet towards me which was close enough for me to grab her. 

I set her up as best I could under heat, made her comfy but fully expected her to pass. She couldn’t stand but was laying on her side gasping again. When I came home from work my parents told me she had passed. I went to bury her. I saw her laying with a towel over her head and broke down bawling. She promptly lifted her head and tried to get to me again! I still don’t know if she is going to survive but she’s on her feet, eating, drinking and getting more active as time passes. She’s still able to make lots of noise and enjoys having her head rubbed like always.   

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Shannon Greenwood

We just lost this sweet little rooster two days ago. He was the product of my Silkie hen hatching out a bunch of eggs, surprise not-Silkies. He lived in a rooster apartment by himself.  I had to put a little sick Silkie hen with vent gleet in the hospital pen beside him. We let him free range most of the time because he never bothered anyone or showed aggression. He even peeped like a chick sometimes as a full-grown rooster, and he never crowed except to be let out of his box in the morning. 

Most of the time we would find him snuggled up beside the hospital coop. Maybe he was glad for the company or had a crush on her, but when he had four acres to roam that’s where he chose to be. One day we noticed a ruffled patch of feathers on his back. I gave him a quick look over because he wasn’t comfortable being handled much, but didn’t see anything. A few weeks later I saw a stain on his back; it was maggots. He had been attacked, probably by an eagle, and had a huge gash across his back and flystrike, which is the thing of nightmares if you’ve ever seen it in person. 

I felt so awful for not seeing his injuries. He never acted sick or injured. When I was tending to him the Silkie hen marched right up to him in his cage and snuggled up beside him, so I let them be together. They just kept each other company. I tried to nurse him back to health and he was a really good sport about it and didn’t fuss at all, but his injuries were too severe. After a bath one day he was unable to stand and went into shock, and quickly passed away lying in the sun. I found the Silkie hen sitting next to him like always.

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Photo credits: Shannon Greenwood & Rory Winter

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Rory Winter

The photo is very sad but shows the love they have for each other. We’ve had these hens for seven years. Many have died over the years, including some very special ones. We brought a group of seven with us from Florida when we moved two years ago. We separated our originals from the new crew that we added when we got to our new place. We are down to three and tomorrow it will be two. 

We let a very sick hen have her last day. She even ate some mealworms today, when she usually hasn’t been eating. We’re going to have her euthanized in the morning as she is suffering. I put her outside so she could be with her last two friends. I went out tonight way past their bedtime when they would have already put themselves to bed. They literally sat under the house with their longtime friend. They know she is sick and won’t leave her by herself even when it’s dark and their instincts tell them otherwise. It’s sad and beautiful at the same time. This grown man has tears in his eyes tonight.

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Eddie Stiltner

Listen to your chickens.

I know it’s bizarre for a man with my hearing loss to write about listening. Listening basically means attention to sound. I can’t listen as a physical act of my ears, however I can hear, just not with the ears. Every night when I close the coop door I place both my hands on the door. I can feel the chatting going inside. The sound vibrates through the door and onto my fingertips. It’s an amazing experience. Some of the vibrations are sharp and quick, as if the hens are arguing about roost bars. The most noticeable is what I call the gossiping neighbours vibration. A few hens just keep talking back and forth. I often wonder if they are chatting about everything that happened in their community that day. Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of this, I can identify two of the hens. I am not sure if it’s because the vibration is coming from the area that they roost or I know them better.

Most of the time this vibration through a cold hard metal door is calm. However, it does change. During the cold nights of a West Virginia winter they are still chatting but at a low pitch. The vibrations through the door are constant and seems like everyone is grumbling over the cold weather. Our summer nights are very mild; however, on those nights the door is chaotic. They are constantly talking. It reminds me of a slumber party, when no one wants to go to bed.

I listen in my own way, every day. These few minutes tell me a lot about my chickens. I know as a flock they get along well. They seem to feel safe and happy. I also know they must love their coop because they all go to roost together every night. 

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Thanks to everyone who shared their stories and photos. Featured photo credit: Eduardo Bogosian

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