Keeping hens and ducks chat.

MysteryMe wrote: »

So sad, one minute our feathered friends provide us with such joy and the next heartbreak.

You are correct they always brought me so much joy and now sudden heartache, I adored all of them. They are funny little things at times with their own personalities which you get used to. If gardening I could often tell which one of them would be standing right behind me chirping and talking away to me. Some would take more handling/cuddling than others and some just walked around chirping happily on their own foraging and made other silly hen noises. For those that don't keep hens you would probably think a hens is just a hen but you would be pleasantly surprised how different each and everyone of them are.


My little man was the best ever, he really was and I absolutely adored him. If there was a scuffle going on I'd say Bertie go and sort it out and off he would go. We had such a good relationship, he trusted me and I trusted him which can be rare with Cockerels especially spending so much time around their girls because at the end of the day they are his girls and not mine. But, I always included him with hand feeding and built up his trust in no time. I'd spend hours and hours around them never getting bored of their company. I have Spondylosis in the top and bottom of my spine and some days it is dreadful painful but I always made the effort to go out and sit with them or walk amongst them. Checking they were all ok and exercising my bad back in the process. A match made in heaven I would say, they helped me and I helped them in return.


I actually feel quite traumatised myself now seeing what I had to see with them scattered all over the coop. It was awful and just resembled carnage but us humans I suppose just say ok we have this to deal with and its got to be done and hubby and I got on with it even though by then it was almost dark there was no way we could leave it until the following morning. We stayed up there soaked from the waist down from getting 2 of them out of the pond to safety indoors until it was all clean and raked up. We lit the coop up by four hanging strong LED torches so bright enough to make sure we left it clean. Its affected me badly to be honest. Loosing one at a time like I have done over the years I suppose you get used to it, its always sad but you harden to it over time over the years and it becomes less stressful if you understand what I mean but this was something else entirely. To loose 9 so brutally I find hard to accept and feel totally lost in myself without them. They were my world, everyone of them.


I bought a light up hanging pink heart to hang in their coop to remember them by which arrived today, hubby has just hung it up for me. Just something to shine a little light in the coop for them to be remembered by. Just something to remember those that we lost as the coop is now empty and eerie because we still have the two remaining ducks indoors with us for their safety.


I'm so down and feel so lost without them. I'm just so heart broken right now, I suppose its still very raw that's all.


Edwink