Last hebdomad , a racoon attack our Barred Rock , Kimora , and our Golden Laced Cochin , Iman , in their coop .
My hubby get wind the hoo-ha but did n’t make it outside in time . According to him , it was the most heartrending audio he ’d ever hear , like a peacock in angst .
He found Kimora ’s body in the chicken coop , along with a shaken Iman . The latter sustained a small accidental injury to her headspring , but our brave Kimora never had a chance .
I ’d like to think she cash in one’s chips while trying to protect her sister , as it ’s the only way I can go for what happened .
No animal — no positron emission tomography — deserves to pall so helplessly and violently , and I ’m devastated to think how frightened they must have been in what ’s hypothesize to be their good place .
When we brought Iman inside the house , there was a laceration directly across the top of her head and a large share of her coxcomb was severed and dangling . She suffered no other accidental injury to her body , her eyes were lustrous and clear , and her nozzle was intact .
Will contribute her some piss and swaddled her in a bath towel . I cleaned as much stock as I could off her read/write head so I could assess the earnestness of her wounds .
There was no way her comb would reattach itself , and since she was no longer bleeding , we made a agile conclusion to devise for a mini “ surgery ” on the kitchen counter .
We disinfect our sharpest shears and curve off the oddment of her comb . This would keep it from molder , promote faster healing , and lead off any potential contagion .
We liberally spray the Modern cut and the laceration with Vetericyn , made a temporary henhouse inside our firm ( just a composition board boxful with a preferent piddle pad ) , and rent her rest for the nighttime .
The next morning time , Will buried Kimora with a fistful of mealworm under the banana Tree , her favorite place tohide eggs back in the day . We planted flush bulbs around her dangerous marking , a large river stone that she loved to rest on in the chicken ravel .
I did n’t see the backwash of the attack in the coop , nor did I see Kimora ’s body before burial . I ’m not trusted I could ’ve palm it . I realize it ’s the circle of lifetime and chickens are the ultimate prey , but it does n’t make the pain in the neck of mislay one any easy .
Perhaps what ’s most difficult for me is knowing Iman is all alone , having firstlost Gisele a few days agoand now Kimora . Theoriginal Three Amigaswill never be the same .
Since chickens are social beast , we fetch homethree new pulletsshortly after the attack . The program is to quarantine them in a separate coop while Iman is healing , and mix them soon afterward so she wo n’t be lonely .
Read more : How to underpin a Healthy Backyard Flock Integration
I ’ll be honest , it ’s a little knockout to get worked up about new crybaby under these circumstances , but I know they ’ll be a fun addition to the mass and much - require company for Iman .
At present , she seems to be recovering well . We plow her accidental injury with Vetericyn twice a sidereal day , and her laceration closed within a day or two .
We added vitamins and electrolytes to her water to alleviate the tension and she ’s drinking , but not too interested in rust .
Will catch a hopper for her the other day and that seemed to light a fire under her for a brief moment , but she ’s not scarf down her feed like she unremarkably does . Each day , I give feed her a spoonful of baby bird formula to insure she ’s receiving some of her day-to-day nutrients .
We ’re let her devoid - chain of mountains in the vegetable garden near our kitchen , where we can keep an eye on her , and she ’s tardily starting to peck and scratch again . It ’s heavy on my heart to see her out there by herself ; sometimes she ’ll just sit under the mulberry tree tree and pucker her head into her feathers .
We imagine she ’s still in a little shock absorber , so we ’ve been give her supererogatory attention and even the baby has been loving on her .
Iman is so unagitated and comfortable around us , it ease up me Bob Hope that she ’ll be back to her old self at some point .
This little ma’am is a fighter and a subsister . You may remember that she ’d sustained anotherraccoon attack over a class ago , and after a few weeks of precaution , her wing healed up nicely .
We ’re rooting for her to pull through this one , too , and are so thankful that she ’s still with us .
All in all , it ’s been a rough workweek and I sense my emotion running up and down in relief and anger , gratitude and sadness .
This is the worst part of raising chickens — by their very nature , they are short - live as pets compare to other animal , but they still defend a significant place in your affection . And with a pocket-sized flock , especially , it ’s hard not to get attach .
I ’ve been receive solace in re - reading mytribute to Gisele , our Easter Eggerwho passed in 2013 .
I know she and Kimora are together again , pecking and scratching gayly for bug and grubs . One Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , I hope to have another Barred Rock as beautiful and grand as Kimora was .
Rest in peace , Kimora . May you soar high in the sky with your sister .
